Sleep, my sweet, grumpy hero
by Mistresserin
Summary: Kara is still having trouble sleeping and when Lena has to travel overseas, things become a little rough for the superhero.
1. Chapter 1

**Note:** this is the 2nd part of **Hugs, Comfort and Blankies** and follows up **Comfort Me**

 **Disclaimer** : TV/Comics/Books characters do not belong to me. I write for fun and the only thing I get from this is lots of more fun. There might be some TV/Comics/Books Canon, but it's mostly for background's sake. There might also be characters that are not TV/Comics/Books related – those are mine.

* * *

 **Chapter One**

Kara Danvers dropped unceremoniously on her couch, a full box of fresh donuts held tightly against her chest, her button shirt half open and disheveled, exposing the symbol of the House of El on the superhero suit underneath; a sullen expression plastered on her face.

She sighed heavily and proceeded to decimate the innocent sugary goods inside the box, her frown deepening with each bite.

Lena was gone, away on a business trip to the UK for a week. It wasn't that long, really, but Kara was so used to being with Lena almost every day for the past two months, that she was left feeling anxious and antsy.

It was silly of her, she knew, but she couldn't stop feeling that way. Besides, their conversation over the fact that Kara couldn't visit her in the UK didn't ease the feeling in her gut, nor did the knowledge that Lena was hiding something from her.

 _"All ready?" Kara forced a smile on her face as she surveyed the three pieces of luggage, flabbergasted. She would only be gone for a week. What could she possible need three full bags for?_

 _Kara heard Lena's low chuckle, as if reading her mind. The shorter woman hugged her from behind, arms wrapping around her waist, and kissed her between the shoulder blades._

" _I'm a Luthor, Kara," Lena said, resting her chin on her shoulder, her voice full of mirth. "Luthor women are not allowed to travel without at least three, big pieces of luggage – it's considered heresy. I'm already considered the family's rebel for always taking the minimum required with me."_

 _Kara chuckled and tilted her head, so it would touch Lena's, seeking the comfort she couldn't bring herself to voice._

" _I'm going to miss you," Kara whispered, her eyes closed._

 _Lena sighed and pulled her closer._

" _I wish I didn't have to go," Lena whispered back, "but it's important. It's been scheduled for months." Lena kissed her shoulder. "If I don't go now…"_

" _I understand." Kara forced the smile back up as she turned in her girlfriend's embrace, so she could hug her back. "I could visit you." her voice sounded hopeful, almost questioning._

 _But Kara read the answer in Lena's eyes before the CEO had a chance to voice it, the pang of disappointment and insecurity hammering in her chest._

" _No, Kara, you can't," Lena replied, her voice steady and warm._

" _But Lena, I could get there in like 30 minutes and…"_

" _Sweetheart, you're needed here. The crime rate from both humans and aliens is going through the roof since the invasion, not to mention the increase in anti-alien protests. National City needs you close and available."_

 _Kara knew she was going to loose this argument the moment Lena touched her face, her green eyes steady and unwavering; a CEO's look that conveyed her position was non-negotiable. Still, she had to try._

 _"The DEO is based here, Lena. J'onn is here. I-"_

 _"Kara," Lena's other hand joined on the other side of her face, thumbs gently stroking her cheeks, "we can handle being apart for a week, sweetie. It's not the first time."_

 _"Well, technically it is," Kara replied, her pout already in place. "It's the first time since we… Since we started dating."_

 _Lena's eyes softened._

 _"You're right, it is, but it's only for a few days, and we'll have to get used to this sooner or later, because, between my business travels and your escapades to Earth 1, we'll be away from each other a lot." Lena gave her a sweet smile._

 _"I don't go on escapades to Earth 1…" Kara mumbled under her breath, her eyes cast down._

 _Lena chuckled._

 _"I know you don't, but you do travel to a different universe for unknown periods of time and we can't even talk to each other, so I don't even know what's going on with you." Lena never stopped her gentle touching. It was as if she knew it helped calm her. "At least here, on this Earth, we're able to talk daily. We can call each other or text-"_

 _"I know, but…" Kara sighed and pulled Lena into a hug, burying her face on her neck._

 _"But?" Lena combed the long, blonde hair with her fingers, her voice lowering instantly in deference to Kara's super hearing, since she was so close to her. Lena was so good to her. "What are you not telling me, Kara?"_

 _Kara briefly debated with herself about how much to tell her girlfriend. She didn't want to worry her, specially not when travelling._

 _"Nothing. I—I just worry about you, that's all. I know the board in the UK branch is mostly your brother's people and I worry that they're going to try something against you."_

 _She had a feeling gnawing at her since early that day and Lena's eyes told her she was not telling her the whole story. Lena was hiding something, and it only made her feel more anxious._

 _"Oh sweetie, I'm already counting on that. That's why I'm taking a security team with me and I'm taking extra precautions." Lena kissed her head gently. "And you are one of those precautions. I have your phone number on speed dial and so does Jesse, and now I know it only takes you around 30 minutes to get there. Plus," another kiss as she started rubbing her back in soothing circles, "I've allowed Winn to track my phone, so you'll always know where I am."_

 _Kara pulled her closer, not yet reassured._

 _"You should get Winn's number on speed dial too. And Alex's!"_

 _"Already done, sweetie." Lena softened her voice even more, knowing Kara could hear her perfectly. "There's nothing that can keep me away from you, Kara Zor-El. Please believe me."_

 _Kara was silent for a while. She was being needy, she knew, but right now, she really didn't care._

 _"Promise?" she whispered, her eyes closed._

 _"I promise," Lena vowed, her soothing touch never stopping._

 _"Can you build a device that allows us to talk when I'm on Earth 1?" Kara asked, her eyes opening_ _suddenly._

 _Lena chuckled._

 _"Already working on it," she_ _admitted._

 _"Really?" Kara pulled away just enough, so she could look at her amazing girlfriend._

 _Lena nodded with a smile, a blush slowly creeping up on her._

 _"I, hum… I started working on it right after you told me about the multiverse and your rescue missions."_

 _Kara gave her best, sunny smile._

 _"You're truly remarkable, you know that? I'm so lucky to have found you."_

 _Lena's blush worsened._

 _"The feeling's mutual."_

 _"Thank Rao for that."_

 _Kara angled her head just so and kissed her girlfriend._

So now, here she was alone in her apartment, with only a box of donuts and her dark thoughts to keep her company. She sighed, defeated, half a donut almost forgotten in her hand.

What was she supposed to do? For a change, National City was having a respite on crime for the past two days, so Supergirl was not needed; there were no major articles for her to work on and Lena was still airborne.

She was bored.

The sound of a key turning and unlocking her door made her half turn in her couch, to look behind her. Her frown deepened, and she let out an aggrieved sigh, as she slumped back down on the couch. She knew why Alex was here and she had no hope of getting any sympathy from her sister.

Alex let herself in, quietly hanging her coat on the hanger nearby. She walked over to the couch and rolled her eyes at her little sister's dejected demeanor. The most powerful woman in the world was acting like an abandoned puppy because her girlfriend was going away for a week. Not that she didn't understand the feeling, but Lena had only been gone for a few hours.

Silently, Alex peeked at the half full box and selected a chocolate donut, ignoring her sister's outraged glare. Alex patted her sister's legs, so she would make room for her, and let herself flop down before Kara had a chance to move.

"Rude…"

Alex looked at her from the corner of her eyes, unfazed.

"You're sulking," Alex accused, taking a bite of her donut.

"Pfff… Am not!" Kara took another bite of her donut, her frown more pronounced.

"Of course you are, and you're taking it out on these poor donuts."

Kara narrowed her eyes at her older sister.

"I have to keep up my calories…" she mumbled in a poor attempt to an excuse.

Alex snorted.

"Right." she kept nibbling on her treat. "You are so wiped for Lena Luthor. It's only been a month since you've started dating and you're already addicted to her."

Kara shot her an indignant stare.

"Excuse me, it's been almost seven weeks!"

"You're counting?" Alex mock slapped her forehead. "Why am I surprised at this, you keep track of everything."

"I do not!"

"Yes, you do. Not on purpose, but you do." Alex smirked at her sister. "I noticed you didn't refute being addicted to Lena Luthor."

Kara blushed fiercely, and Alex let out an evil chuckle. This is was too good to pass.

"I like Lena," Kara mumbled, "and I like spending time with her. Nothing wrong with that."

"So, I've noticed. You've hardly been around these past weeks."

Kara eyed her sister, her eyes suddenly worried. Had she been neglecting her sister in her need to spend as much time as possible with Lena?

"Is that your way of telling me that you miss me?" Kara asked with a smug smirk. She decided playfulness was the best course of action to find out if her sister was really mad at her, without having to ask outright.

Alex gave her a genuine smile.

"Maybe I am," Alex replied softly, "maybe we both haven't been around each other much lately."

Now Kara felt guilty.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked in a small, remorseful voice, her eyes wide and round.

Alex chuckled.

"Of course not, Kara." Alex patted her leg gently. "The past weeks have been hectic for all of us. We've been working nonstop and still have to find time for ourselves and our girlfriends." Alex paused for a moment, considering. "We should be grateful that they love us so much, they're willing to put up with our crazy work schedules."

"Thank Rao for that!"

Alex agreed with a nod.

"So, back to you being wiped and addicted to Lena Luthor."

Kara groaned and covered her eyes, and Alex laughed.

"I'm not wiped! Or addicted to Lena!"

"It's been less than three hours since she left and you're already moping."

"I'm not moping!" Kara whined. "I'm… worried."

Alex's eyebrows went up to her head, in surprise.

"Worried? About?"

Kara fidgeted with the box's cover, not meeting her sister's eyes.

"It's just a feeling, but… There's something Lena is not telling me. I know when she's hiding something from me. Especially when it's something she's thinks I probably won't like."

Alex blinked at her sister.

"Like what? Do you think Lena is up to no good?"

"No! Come on, Alex, I thought you were past that!"

There was a tinge of anger in Kara's voice that made Alex stop breathing for a second. Her sister had always been a fierce defender of Lena Luthor, but now that they were dating, there was no stopping her.

"I am, Kara, I swear it. I wasn't thrilled when I realized the both of you had feelings for each other, but she kinda grew on me and I have to admit I do like her." Alex stopped for a moment, making eye contact with her sister to convey her feelings. "She's proved herself to the world as far as I'm concerned, and she makes you happy, Kar; happy like I've never seen you before and I know how much she truly cares for you."

That seemed to mollify Kara and she allowed a sheepish smile towards her sister.

"Sorry… I'm just so used to everyone always thinking the worst of her, that I…"

"Want to smack away and ask questions after?" Alex supplied with a smirk.

Kara chuckled and scratched behind her ear, a blush gracing her face.

"Something like that, yes. I'm very protective of her."

"I know." Alex offered her a smile. "You know, it's probably nothing. You're just bummed that she's gone to the other side of the world for a few days."

"Maybe, but…"

"But?"

Kara shook her head.

"Never mind, you're probably right."

"So, you're not moping?"

Kara rolled her eyes. Sometimes Alex was like a dog with a bone!

"You would feel the same way if Maggie went away for a week."

"You seem to forget that a few months ago, Maggie went undercover for almost a month and I had no way of talking to her, or knowing how she was faring, and I kept my cool."

Truth be told, she had a way of communicating with Maggie and monitoring her every move since it was a joint operation between the DEO and NCPD, but she was not about to let her sister in on her little secret.

Kara shot her a dirty look, slowly pulling the box of donuts closer to herself, in a silent threat.

Alex lifted both hands in mock surrender. She knew her sister was grumpy and bored and needed a distraction, and she wanted another donut.

Kara gave a skeptical look, not convinced with the quick surrender. Alex never backed down unless she had something up her sleeve.

"As you know, it's a long flight from here to Dublin. It will take her at least seven more hours before she can check in with you."

Kara narrowed her eyes again, her lips pursed, silently warning her. Alex lifted a placating hand.

"I don't want you to stay here all day, waiting all alone on that call, so I have a suggestion."

Kara took another donut from the box, her lips still very much pursed. She was not happy, and she was not in the mood to socialize. She kept wondering why Lena had no Wi-Fi on her private jet! She was like, the alpha nerd! They could be texting each other right now! She would have to talk to her about it when she returned from the UK.

"I'm listening," she replied grumpily, and Alex had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"General Lane has a new exoskeleton that he wants to test, and he brought it to our desert base. How about it?"

Kara have her sister a pointed look.

"You seem to forget what happened the last time I tested one of his toys. It was obliterated and I solar flared."

Alex winced at the memory. The general would have an alien cow if another of his toys got wrecked at the hands of Supergirl, but this one was different: a soldier would be operating inside the exoskeleton and Kara would never do anything to hurt a human.

"Yeah, I remember, but this is different. It's a military suit and a human will be operating it. He said he wanted to pit the DEO's best agent against it. You're our best agent." Alex gave her best winning smile. It helped a lot that the General didn't consider Supergirl a DEO's agent. "What do you say? Wanna kick the General's mini Arnold's ass?"

Kara snorted at that. His prized soldiers did look like mini Arnolds.

"I don't know, Alex. What if I hurt someone? What if I break the gear? I'm already on the General's hit list, I don't want to make things worse." Another dejected bite. She really didn't want to socialize, even if it was to punch away an exoskeleton. "And I'm not really in the mood."

Alex nodded, crossing her arms as she peeked inside the box: no more donuts, darn it!

"Well, there goes our bet, then."

Kara frowned.

"What bet?"

"Winn and I bet against the mini Arnolds that you could beat their top-notch armor."

That caught Kara's attention. She knew how much the DEO agents loved to bet, particularly against the militaries.

"What did you bet?"

"Whoever wins has first choice rights for joined exercises for a year and bragging rights."

"That's it?" she knew first choice for tactics exercises were a big deal for them, and Rao, did they love to brag, but it just wasn't appealing to her. Though she would do it just to help her sister, even if her heart wasn't in it.

Alex gave her a wicked smile.

" _If_ we win, they have to buy you all the pot-stickers you can eat every time they come to NC - for a year."

Kara stopped chewing, her eyes dead serious.

"All the pot-stickers I can eat? For a year?"

Alex nodded.

"They're pretty sure of themselves. Been gloating all day, because you haven't been around. They think you chickened out."

Kara nearly choked.

"Chickened out?! I'm Supergirl, I don't chicken out!" Kara shifted to a sitting position, a determined look on her face. "Do you want a ride?"

Alex shook her head, amused, her phone already in her hand to text Winn the good news.

"Nope! I brought the car. Meet you there in 40 minutes?"

"I'll be there in five." Kara grumbled, stomping into her room.

She knew what Alex was up to. The bet, the fight, it was all irrelevant. Her sweet, older sister was trying to distract her from Lena's flight and, at the same time, making sure she had a way to vent her frustration.

Her sister was the best, even if she sometimes annoyed the hell out her.

##

Alex watched her sister disappear inside her room, her eyes full of gentle affection, and so very glad they had reinforced the floor with unique tiles developed at the DEO's labs, a resistant mix of concrete and titanium, that allowed Supergirl to land safely in her apartment without having to replace tiles every week.

She hurried to text Winn before leaving the apartment, so he could start on the side pool, the one that would grant them the hefty amount that would help pay for a two-week vacation in Europe with her girlfriend.

Once she was in her car, away from Kara's observing eyes and apparent super 6th sense, she grabbed her phone and hurried a text. With an aggravated sigh, she disposed the phone on the passenger's seat and started the car.

Her sister was supposed to be oblivious to the subtleties around her. When had that changed? It wasn't the first time she had to keep things from Kara and it wouldn't be the last either, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

She hated keeping secrets from her baby sister, even if it was for her own safety.

##


	2. Chapter 2

Note: this is the 2nd part of Hugs, Comfort & Blankies and follows up Comfort Me

Disclaimer: TV/Comics/Books characters do not belong to me. I write for fun and the only thing I get from this is lots of more fun. There might be some TV/Comics/Books Canon, but it's mostly for background's sake. There might also be characters that are not TV/Comics/Books related – those are mine.

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

Somewhere over the Atlantic…

Lena pushed the stack of reports away and rubbed her tired eyes, while setting her glasses aside. She was up since 5am, her flight scheduled for an early start, because it would take them around ten hours to fly to Dublin.

She was excited to go back. Dublin had been her home for almost half her life and she missed the simplicity of the Irish, even if the weather was still quite unpredictable, unlike National City, where it was mostly sunny and warm year-round.

Mostly like Kara.

Lena sighed and looked out the window, the clear, blue sky blurred on her unfocused eyes.

Kara.

A slow smile came unbidden to her lips as she thought of her bubbly girlfriend.

Her girlfriend. How long had it been since she'd had a girlfriend, since she'd had any lasting relationship for that matter?

Jack had been her last attempt at a serious relationship. She had loved him, and his death still weighed heavily on her heart, but the truth was, she had never really allowed herself to fully let go with him, or anyone else; never really allowed anyone inside, until Kara.

Kara had the power to destroy her and she briefly wondered if the Kryptonian was aware of that.

This was all still new to her, this deep feeling, the sense of belonging; the feeling of being freely loved and having friends who truly cared for her, and, who knew, one day, maybe even having a real, loving family.

It was all new and scary and exciting, and it was all because of Kara Danvers.

Lena closed her eyes and allowed the memories from early that day to resurface.

 _Lena watched amused as Kara insisted in scanning her private jet once more, before takeoff. It was endearing, really, the way Kara looked out for her, cared for her._ /i/p

" _All clear?" Lena asked with a smile._

 _Kara pushed her glasses up her nose and gave her a warm smile._

" _Yes, all clear." Kara fiddled with her glasses. "Thank you for indulging me."_

 _Lena moved closer to her, craving her warmth, her presence, and placed a hand flat on her chest, over her heart._

" _I have to admit it does make me feel a lot safer now that you've scanned the plane."_

 _Kara gave her a winning smile._

" _Anything for you, Lena, you know that."_

 _Lena leaned closer and kissed her softly, deepening the kiss when she felt Kara melt into her. This was going to be hard. They'd been apart already, but they never really had to say goodbye before._

 _She felt Kara's hand on the back of her head, the alien's long fingers twinning with her hair, slightly brushing her sensitive scalp. Lena pressed her body against Kara's, her hands slowly tracking up her torso, underneath her cardigans, stopping just under her breasts. Kara's breathing was ragged as Lena pulled away, just enough to look into glazed and unfocused blue eyes._

 _It was a nice feeling, knowing she could make Supergirl breathless with one just one kiss when the woman hardly even broke a sweat in a fight._

 _Kara dropped her forehead against Lena's, her eyes closing, her breathing still slightly uneven._

" _I really don't want you to go…" she whispered._

" _I know, sweetheart, I know…" Lena said just as softly, her hands touching both sides of Kara's face in a gentle caress. She knew Kara loved it when she did it, particularly if she kissed her like she was about to, just a brush of lips, a ghost of a touch. She knew Kara thought it to be a very intimate touch and Lena had to admit, the sigh of longing that always left Kara's parted lips, left her wanting more, so much more. "I'll be back before you know it."_

" _Please, be careful." Kara begged, their lips still barely touching._

" _Always." Lena brushed their lips again, but this time, pressing a little longer, wanting a little more. "I l-"_

 _A clear of throat interrupted her just in time, just before she said something that was still too soon to be said; something she was still fearful was not reciprocated, but how desperately she wanted to believe it was._

" _We have to leave, Miss Luthor."_

 _Lena heard the grave voice of her pilot and gently nodded her head against Kara's._

" _I have to go, sweetie. I'll call you when I get there."_

" _Immediately when you land," Kara demanded still very much attached to her._

 _Lena chuckled._

" _Immediately." She agreed. "Now go. My driver will drop you off anywhere you like and has instructions to drive you anywhere you need, whenever you need. His number is in your contact list." Lena nuzzled her nose against the soft skin of Kara's cheek. "Supergirl can fly anywhere in the world, but not Kara Danvers."_

" _You take such good care of me…"_

 _Lena's lips moved, the words desperate to come out, to be said, but instead, she gave her one last, hungry kiss and hurried inside the plane without looking back, before she made a rash decision and cancelled everything._

" _I'm missing you already…" she whispered, knowing Kara could hear her. "Please, be careful and take care of yourself. It worries me that you're still having trouble sleeping."_

 _She dared not look out the window, knowing Kara was still there, knowing she wouldn't leave until the plane was out of her sight._

"I love you…" she whispered to no one in particular, her eyes still closed. It was silly, but it felt so good to hear herself saying it out loud.

A self-deprecating chuckle left her lips: she had it bad for Kara Danvers and she wanted to shout it out loud for the whole world to know.

With a heavy sigh, she glared at the reports in front of her. She really should get on with it, to be as prepared as possible for the hostility she knew was waiting for her, for the false smiles and deceit, and the back stabbing, and very possible attempts on her life.

The board of the UK branch wanted to buy her share and she wanted theirs, so they both had a problem. Unfortunately for them, Lionel had left her his share of the company in his will and nothing for Lex or Lillian, meaning she now had the majority ownership, but that didn't mean she still didn't want to weaken their power in the international branches, where most of her brother's devotees still lingered.

A powerplay was afoot from both sides, and she had to come on the winning side. They couldn't win, but they could seriously undermine her leadership as CEO if she didn't anticipate their every move. It was like playing chess, really, only the price was too high to pay.

She wished everything was different this time, that Kara was here with her and they could just take some time out. She would love Ireland, she was sure of it.

She buzzed her butler and started looking around her bag for her painkillers. She knew she would soon develop a headache from the poor hours of sleep for the past few nights and staring for too many hours at the boring financial reports, so she might as well keep them handy.

This is not how she envisioned how her life would be once she graduated. She was a lab rat, a scientist, not an executive.

"Your usual, madam?" the polite, tall man approached her desk and waited patiently, his hands crossed behind his back.

"You know what I really crave right now, John? Something that I like very, very much and that very few people know that I do."

The man blinked at her. Sometimes his young boss would exchange polite conversation with him, ask about his family, how his son was doing in college. She had even sponsored him for Metropolis University, with a full tuition, something he would never be able to provide, but she never once engaged in personal conversation with him. So, when Lena Luthor mentioned a craving, he was all ears.

"And what would that be, madam?"

Lena flashed him a grin, somewhat mischievous.

"Hot chocolate."

She kept rummaging through her bag, therefore missing the sudden paleness on the tall man's face.

"Hot chocolate, madam?" he repeated to make sure he heard it right the first time.

"Yes…" a frown came upon her as she peered inside her bag. "Where did I put them?"

"Madam, we don't have hot chocolate here." John went on, just a hint of fear in his otherwise steady voice.

Lena mentally rolled her eyes.

"Relax, John, I'm not my mother. I know perfectly well you wouldn't pack anything I didn't pre-approve and…"

She stopped when her eyes spotted a very familiar package, a silly grin coming unbidden.

"Madam?"

Lena held up a handful of hot chocolate packets from her favorite brand.

"Hot chocolate!"

John blinked at her but took the packets from her.

"Please add these to the list next time." She mentally shrugged as she surrendered to her cravings. "And fresh cinnabons and donuts from Noonan's."

"Yes, madam."

Lena didn't even hear him leave as she opened the small note that was glued to one of the packages.

" _Hey sweetie,_

 _I know it's a long flight and that you'll probably want to get done as much work as possible, but you need to rest too, and I worry about you. You hardly slept these past nights._

 _So, here are a few goodies for you. Please, just take a break and have some hot chocolate and a snack. I also smuggled a freshly made veggie pizza for your lunch. I know you have a nice mini-oven there, so just follow the instructions on the box._

 _Oh! And there's also a pen with 'How to train your dragon', I know how much you love that one, and the latest of Star Wars (Alex says you'll drool over this one, so if it's not good, yell at her!)._

 _If you check the bottom drawer of your desk, you'll find blanky to keep you company while you watch your movies._

 _Please, please rest._

 _xoxoxo_

Kara

Lena rubbed her eyes to stop the tears from falling. No one had ever cared for her the way Kara did. It was overwhelming sometimes, because she had stopped dreaming and hoping about this kind of affection a very long time ago. Her mother had seen to that.

Now it was given to her freely, no strings attached, despite her name, despite her brother's madness and her mother's crimes.

She finally had it and she often felt the urge to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"Madam,"

John's voice and the smell of steaming hot chocolate interrupted her musings.

"Thank you, John." She gave him a grateful smile, hoping he wouldn't notice the tears in her eyes.

If he did, he kept it to himself and that was fine with her.

"Please, help yourself and ask George and Sandie if they want some too. There's more than enough for all of us."

"Thank you, madam. I will ask."

"John," she called as he was about to walk away. "I'm sure you'll find a veggie pizza in the mini fridge. That would be lunch."

The man stared at her, obviously bewildered, but nodded politely and walked away.

Once she was alone again, Lena allowed herself a moment of pure bliss and gratitude as she sipped her beverage. Kara was adorable and funny and sweet and brave, and she was madly in love with her.

She needed to tell her soon, how much she loved her, or she would burst.

But her adorable and sweet girlfriend was still struggling with the events from two months before, and she suspected it ran deeper than the fact that she couldn't save the woman in the blown-up apartment, and the memories that event brought on. No, she suspected Kara was starting to remember the events of the crash; the events that nearly ended her life.

Kara was very likely suffering from PTSD and there was nothing any of them could do about it.

 _Lena spotted Kara as soon as she stepped inside Noonan's, her happy smile dying on her lips. Her girlfriend was sitting on their usual booth, her hands covering her face, long, strong fingers rubbing her eyes, her glasses up on her forehead, showing no sign that she heard Lena's arrival. She always heard Lena long before she walked inside._

" _Kara?"_

 _Kara rushed to straighten herself and shot Lena a tired smile._

" _Lena! Good morning!"_

 _Lena leaned in and gently kissed her forehead. They had both agreed to keep their relationship away from the public eye for as long as they could, which they both knew wouldn't last long, so no kissing in public, but that didn't mean they couldn't still say hello as always._

" _Morning, sweetheart," Lena whispered before she sat down._

 _Kara made a move to touch her hands from across the table, but quickly stopped herself and smirked._

 _Maybe sooner than either of them expected._

 _Lena watched her carefully as their usual request was brought to the table, Lena being a regular ever since she befriended Kara. At least here, no one cared if she was a Luthor. Here, she was just Lena, Kara's friend, and apparently everyone liked her._

" _Nightmares?"_

 _Kara's shoulders slumped visibly._

" _I've had a busy night." Kara fidgeted with the cutlery on the table, eyes low. "There were two fires, one robbery and at least two serious car accidents, and…"_

 _Kara stopped talking when she looked up at Lena, only to be faced with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow._

 _She swallowed, averting her eyes again._

" _That too."_

 _Lena quickly changed her demeanor to concerned._

" _Honey, you can't keep this up. You need to sleep."_

" _I—"_

 _Kara stopped herself, and Lena read the frustration and sadness in those expressive blue eyes. She was confused: Kara didn't usually have nightmares when Lena spent the night at Kara's after game night. They usually fell asleep snuggled in each other, while watching a movie or simply in the middle of some silly and meaningless conversation. She needed to talk to Alex urgently. Kara wasn't well, and they needed to do something about it._

 _Before she could even think about what she was doing, Lena reached across the table and intertwined their fingers, her eyes locked on the bent head._

" _Lee…" Kara looked up, eyes darting nervously around them._

" _I don't care anymore, Kara. You need this, and I don't care if people know about us. Well, I do, but…" Lena let out a frustrated breath. "I just wanted to spare you for as long as I could of the circus the media is going to make about us being together."_

 _Kara gave her a grateful smile, her eyes shining with something Lena couldn't quite understand._

" _I can handle it, Lena."_

" _I know you can, it's just…" Lena shook her head. "Can I stay over tonight? I miss snuggling with you."_

 _She must have said the magic words, because Kara's whole face lightened up._

" _Just the two of us?" Kara asked softly, her eyes hopeful._

" _I don't want to sound selfish, I do like your friends, but I want you all to myself tonight."_

 _Kara nodded, obviously relieved._

" _They're your friends too, Lena."_

" _One day, maybe." Lena smiled to take the sting out. "I can leave early and make you dinner."_

 _Kara's bright smile was enough to short circuit her brain._

 _Tonight, she would test her theory about Kara's nightmares._

That night, they had shared a homemade meal, prepared from scratch. Kara had been delighted to find out one of Lena's many skills was to cook and made her promise they would have to do it again soon.

Lena smiled at the look of absolute bliss on Kara's face when she tasted her cooking for the first time.

That night, shortly after dinner, Kara fell asleep in her arms, her belly full and exhausted from lack of sleep. That night, Kara Zor-El slept all night, only waking up once, when they migrated from the couch to the bedroom.

Lena sighed, still sipping her hot chocolate. Apparently, Kara would sleep soundly if Lena was close to her, and now she worried that Kara would spend many sleepless nights while she was away.

She knew Alex would keep an eye on her sister. They had a sort of system worked out to make sure at least one of them stayed at Kara's for as many nights as possible, and Maggie was being such a trooper about it, even spending a few night's over when neither of them could. It didn't work out as well with Maggie, but at least she slept most of the night.

Lena knew Kara was onto them, but she was too weary to call them on it.

Kara needed to sleep and face her demons, and they couldn't keep this up forever. They had to figure out a way to help her and fast.

 _Alex looked up from her microscope when she heard her walk inside her lab._

" _Lena!" Alex greeted her with a smile and enveloped her in a warm hug. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"_

 _Lena was still surprised with these sudden displays of affection from Alex and Winn, the smiles, the hugs. She kept wondering when the other shoe would fall, when it would all end. She hardly ever had any of those when she was growing up, and, as an adult, they become practically inexistent until Kara Danvers popped into her life. The woman was a confessed hugger and had a need for touch that she always believed she would find overwhelming, but how Kara had proved her wrong: she was just as starved for touch as Kara._

" _I need to talk to you, about Kara."_

 _Alex pointed to a chair nearby._

" _I know she's all right, because everything's calm today. I have no reports of any major incident."_

 _Lena nodded._

" _Physically, yes, she's doing just fine." Lena gave the agent a somber look. "But I'm worried about her state of mind."_

 _Alex frowned._

" _What do you mean? Is she acting weird again? Lena, if she said or did something offensive to you, she didn't mean it. She can't control herself."_

 _It was Lena's turn to frown. What was Alex talking about and why was she rushing out the door?_

" _Hey! Wait!" Lena grabbed her arm just as she was about to leave the lab. "Kara didn't do anything to hurt me. Why would think that?"_

" _She's not acting weird?"_

 _Alex looked apprehensive. Lena shook her head and watched as Alex let out a breath of relief._

" _What's going on, Alex?"_

 _Alex shook her head._

" _Long story short, a couple years ago, Kara was affected by red kryptonite and it messed her up." Alex gave her a thin smile, sitting back down on her chair. "It erased her inhibitions. Kara became… offensive and cruel, acting on every single bad thought she ever had. The filter was gone. We had to track her down and stop her. It was not a good time for her or National City."_

" _Oh…" Lena frowned. Fact was, before coming to National City, she had a background check on Supergirl, but nothing too extensive, just enough to allow her to know a possible enemy, but she didn't remember reading about that. "That must have been hard on her."_

" _It still is. She's terrified that the red kryptonite will pop up again and affect her judgment. We've taken precautions, but…"_

 _Lena nodded, understanding, and quickly added a note to her 'Save and Protect Kara's' list on her cloud, where she kept all her ideas about protecting and helping Supergirl._

" _The danger is always there."_

 _Alex nodded._

" _So, if Kara is not under the influence of red Kryptonite and not in danger…" Alex rolled her hand in the air, willing her to explain._

" _She's not sleeping."_

" _What?" Alex frowned._

" _She keeps having nightmares and I think it's getting worse." Lena pursed her lips. "I think she's starting to remember some of what happened at the crash."_

 _Alex sighed and scratched her head._

" _Damn it…"_

" _Alex, I think Kara is suffering from PTSD or something like that. A lot has happened lately. There's only so much a person can take." Lena took a deep breath. "Is she seeing a therapist?"_

 _Alex shook her head._

" _Why not? She should. She's not getting any better, Alex."_

 _Alex started pacing._

" _We considered bringing in a psychologist, but the fact is that no one passed the background checks for clearance. Dr. Bowden is the resident psychologist for the DEO, but I don't trust him with Kara's mind. Neither does Hank. He has a too deep friendship with General Lane, and that's just asking for trouble." Alex lifted both hands in surrender. "And Kara would never accept it. I've been trying to get her to talk to Alura, the AI of her mother, maybe she can find some solace with it, but… As a last resort, Hank will talk to her. He can read minds and help people, but he can't read Kryptonians. She has to allow it."_

 _Alex scratched the bridge of her nose._

" _I've even taken a few classes on psychology. It's boring as hell and I'm sure I've slept through half of it, but I have to try something."_

 _Lena gave her an affectionate look. She wished she had a sister like Alex when she was growing up. Lex had always been kind to her, but he was mostly too focused on his own schemes to pay any real attention to her._

" _All right, so a therapist is out of question, Hank is a last resort and an AI might help." Lena nodded to herself. "I like our odds."_

 _Alex chuckled._

" _For start, we have to make sure that she sleeps. If she's exhausted, she'll sleep like a rock and probably won't dream at all." Alex was lost in thought for a while. "I can start training her twice a day, make it more intense."_

 _Lena nodded. That could help._

" _I realized that Kara tends to sleep better if I'm close to her, so…" she stopped herself when she noticed Alex's smirk, a knowing glint in her dark eyes. "Nothing happened!"_

 _Alex chuckled, amused._

" _You mean, you two haven't… you know."_

 _Lena felt her cheeks burn but held her head high._

" _No, not yet. We're… It hasn't come up yet."_

" _Ah!" Mercifully, Alex left her off the hook. "All right, I think we have a plan and we should implement it at once." Alex gave her a wink. "Let me hunt down my sunny baby sister to tell her the good news about her new training schedule."_

 _Alex's voice held a too gleeful tone and she had a feeling Kara was not going to like this. Alex, on the other hand, was loving it._

But now she was crossing the Atlantic and she had no idea how Kara was going to handle all of this.

She made a quick note on her phone. She knew a psychologist in Dublin she trusted, and she could ask some questions. She didn't even need to come up with an excuse, she just wanted to help a reluctant friend. That might work.

Her eyes fell once again on the stack of papers in front of her. Lena rubbed her eyes and groaned and lifted her hands as she surrendered to the inevitable.

She packed the reports back in her briefcase and picked Kara's pen drive.

"You're a bad influence, Kara Danvers. Why did it take me so long to find you?"

With a chuckle, Lena plugged the pen in her laptop and snuggled on Kara's blanky with the warm, fuzzy feeling of being cared for.

##

Her phone started beeping uncontrollably the moment flight mode was turned off. It didn't surprise her to hear the repeated sound of the email notification, that was a given, but to hear her WhatsApp notification sound beeping repeatedly, well, that was new.

Lena opened the app at once, checking the received messages. There were several messages from Kara, Alex, Jesse and Winn, and even from Maggie. It filled her heart with warmth. It seemed she did have friends after all.

 **Kara Danvers 07:05** : I'm missing you too already. Please don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Just concentrate on outsmarting those old sharks and come home soon.

 **Kara Danvers 07:06** : Call me when you get back ❤❤❤

Lena smiled at her girlfriend's sweet text and didn't bother opening her other messages. She would check them once she was settled. She had something more important to take care of first.

She switched to her speed dial list and pressed Kara's name, her girlfriend's smiling face materializing in her screen.

It rang twice before it was picked up.

" _Lena!"_ Kara's excited voice sounded from the other side.

Lena smiled instantly.

"Hello, sweetheart."

" _Did you have a nice flight?"_

Kara's voice sounded a bit off, slightly breathless, and Lena frowned.

"Kara, are you picking up your phone again in the middle of a fight?"

" _What?"_ Kara chuckled. _"No. I promised I wouldn't do that again."_

"You did," Lena relaxed, staring outside the window as the jet was steered through the airport lane. "So, why do you sound winded, then?"

" _I just won a bet for the DEO and beat up some muscled soldier armed with a top-notch exoskeleton and was rewarded all the pot-stickers I can eat for a year! A year, Lena!"_

Lena laughed softly at the giddiness she could hear in Kara's voice. The woman was adorable, and she wished fervently she could be there with her right now, so she could see those incredible blue eyes shining with excitement.

"Pot-stickers for a whole year? Now, that's right up your alley. Do they supply it daily?"

" _Oh, it's not every day, just when they come to NC, but Winn already exported their scheduled visits to my calendar, so…"_

Lena grinned: Kara was delighted, she knew. She would have to thank Alex for keeping Kara busy and distracted from the flight.

"Good thinking. That way, they won't get away."

" _I'll fly to whatever base they're hiding at and make them pay up!"_

Lena chuckled at the threatening sound in Kara's voice. One would be reckless to come between Kara and her beloved pot-stickers!

" _So, how was your flight?"_ Kara asked again, her voice softening. _"You didn't spend ten hours reading reports, did you?"_

Lena smiled.

"Well, that was the plan, but then I found myself sidetracked by hot chocolate, a pen drive and your blanky. Care to explain?"

" _Huh… Well, I—I hum…"_ Kara stuttered, and Lena heard her take a deep breath. _"You need to rest, Lena. You can't spend all of ten hours in an international flight just working. The time zone is different there and you won't even have time to adapt to that before you're thrown into the shark's thank, and…"_

Kara stopped rambling when she heard Lena's gentle laughter.

" _What's so funny?"_

"You, Kara Danvers, are bad influence."

" _I am?"_ Kara's voice sounded confused.

Lena nodded as if Kara could see her.

"You are, but you're a good 'bad influence' and I lo— I'm so thankful for that."

"Oh! Thanks…"

Lena closed her eyes and imagined Kara's blush, because she knew that right now, she was blushing and probably fidgeting with glasses that weren't there. God, she loved her.

"So, instead of spending all my time reading those awfully boring reports, I just took care of a few and spent the rest of the flight watching movies and eating veggie pizza. I even took a nap."

" _I'm glad you did,"_ Kara said softly, and Lena could hear her smile. _"Did you like the movie Alex picked up for you?"_

"I did. Remind me to thank her later," Lena answered and looked up as the jet came to a full stop, the seatbelt sign turning off. "By the way, how did you manage to get the pizza in the fridge? My butler thinks I've developed superpowers overnight."

Kara chuckled smugly.

" _I may be a terrible liar, but I can be stealth and subtle when I want to, despite popular belief."_

Lena laughed.

"Thank you for taking such good care of me, Kara. Your note made my day."

" _Well, someone has to, and you do the same for me."_

John's signal caught her attention and she sighed. She didn't want to hang up just yet. Kara's voice did wonderful things to her mood and she craved that sunny smile, even if she couldn't see it right now.

"We take care of each other."

It was a promise, one shared not that long ago.

" _We take care of each other."_ Kara repeated softly.

"I have to go now, sweetie, my car's already outside. I'll call you once I'm settled."

" _All right, and Lena,"_

"Yes?"

" _Please, remember, if you need me, I'll be there in less than 30 minutes. Please."_

"I will, sweetheart. I must go now. Talk to you later."

"Later."

The call ended, and Lena left the jet, strolling straight to her limo, sunglasses in place.

"Miss Luthor,"

Lena watched as her head of security opened the door for her.

"Any news?"

"The report's already inside. I believe my findings will be quite… elucidative."

Lena gave the man a thin smile.

"Good, let's get to work then. Instruct the driver to take us straight to my office downtown. We have the surprise factor on our side and I'd like to take full advantage of it."

The burly man lifted a dark eyebrow, is face otherwise impassive.

"Yes, ma'am."

He closed the door after her and hurried to the passenger side, instructing the driver.

Lena looked outside the window as the car pulled away, an absent look in her eyes, her mind already reeling with the information that might be in the dark L-Corp's folder by her side, a haunting, familiar name printed in silver bold lettering in its center: GAEL.

She briefly debated with herself, her fingers rhythmically tapping on the folder, before picking up her phone again and opening Alex's text.

 **Alex Danvers 11:23** : FYI, Kara is onto you. She knows something's up. She can read you like an open book, Luthor!

 **Alex Danvers 11:24:** Hope you had a good flight 😉. Call me when you get this.

Lena sighed heavily and pressed dial on Alex's contact. Should it all go accordingly to plan, she would be back home by the end of the week, with one less problem to worry about.

###

* * *

Note: Thank you for all your reviews so far! You guys are great! Please let me know what you think :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Note:** this is the 2nd part of Hugs, Comfort & Blankies and follows up Comfort Me

 **Disclaimer:** TV/Comics/Books characters do not belong to me. I write for fun and the only thing I get from this is lots of more fun. There might be some TV/Comics/Books Canon, but it's mostly for background's sake. There might also be characters that are not TV/Comics/Books related – those are mine.

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

Seventeen days.

Kara grumpily glared at the calendar on her desk.

Seventeen days since Lena left for Ireland. It was supposed to take her just a few days!

She sighed and tried to focus, again, on the blank page in her laptop. She'd been staring at it for at least fifteen minutes and nothing came up. She had a deadline until 9am of the next day and Snapper would transfer her to the gossip section if she didn't deliver it in time.

Kara rubbed her forehead and forced herself to think, but there was nothing. Well, nothing except thoughts of Lena Luthor. Why was she not back yet?

She looked at her watch: almost 6pm, close to 2am in Dublin, but Lena was probably still up, right? She usually was. They talked every day, with scattered text messages and phone calls at odd hours, but still she missed her terribly.

She knew Lena was trying her hardest to get everything done to come home as soon as possible. She could hear the longing in her voice every time they talked, the stress and the frustration. No matter how much Lena tried to sound perky and casual, Kara always heard the truth in her voice. Always.

 _Kara had just stepped inside through her living room's window, when her phone buzzed in the hidden pocket of her boot. She rushed to get the phone, hoping it was Lena, her face splitting into a huge grin when she checked the caller ID._

" _Lena," she greeted, her voice full of affection._

" _Hello, sweetheart." Lena's voice sounded slightly raspy. "Are you home?"_

" _Just got here, actually." Kara was still grinning when she let herself drop on the couch. "Did you sleep well? You sound like you just woke up."_

 _Lena chuckled._

" _Something like that, yes, and the chilly winter of Ireland doesn't help much either."_

 _Kara frowned._

" _Are you sick?"_

" _No, just a slight cold, nothing to worry about." Lena chuckled again. "I forgot what it was like."_

" _Hum… Well, I like the sound of your voice like that," Kara admitted with a shy smile. "And you're starting to slip your accent. Its… hum…"_

" _Sexy?" Lena supplied, deepening her voice just slightly, her Irish accent clearly more pronounced._

 _Kara swallowed hard, a fierce blush creeping up her neck, as a fluttering feeling started in her stomach._

" _Y—yes…" she stammered._

 _When Lena's low, wicked laugh came through the line, she knew she was in trouble._

" _I'll have to keep that in mind."_

 _Kara cleared her throat._

" _Did it take you long to lose the accent when you came back?"_

" _No, I changed it immediately."_

" _Why?"_

 _A sigh was heard from the other side._

" _Because, Kara, I'm a Luthor and a scientist, with an Irish accent and for some reason, Americans tend to imagine villains as mad scientists with a British accent, no matter which Great Britain's country it's from. I already had my family's name working against me, I certainly didn't need an accent to make it worse."_

" _Oh!" Kara nodded to herself. "I never thought of that. It does make sense, but… It's such a lovely accent. It's not fair that you feel the need to hide it."_

" _It's actually a bit hard for me not to keep what I consider to be my 'default' accent." Lena admitted. "I went to Ireland still very young and that was the accent that stuck."_

" _Well, you can speak with your natural accent with me whenever you feel like, Lena."_

" _Thank you, sweetheart, that means a lot."_

 _Kara smiled softly, picking at an invisible line on her suit._

" _I want you to always feel comfortable in being yourself around me, Lena."_

" _I do, Kara. More than anyone else." A low chuckle. "You've seen me wearing white socks and nerdy glasses. Few have had the chance to see me that laid back."_

 _Kara chuckled._

" _You do look cute in your Star Wars pajamas and white socks, though."_

" _And I can assure you, Kara Zor-El, that no one, and I mean no one, besides you, has ever seen me in my Star Wars pajamas."_

 _Kara laughed easily._

" _That's because I was the one who bought them for you!"_

" _There you go!"_

 _Kara snorted._

" _I miss you," Kara admitted. "I'm so glad you're coming back the day after tomorrow. I can pick you up if—"_

" _About that," Lena interrupted softly._

 _Kara blinked._

" _Lena…"_

" _I'm sorry, sweetheart, I really am."_

 _Lena's voice sounded worried and frustrated and… Kara closed her eyes: her heartbeat was erratic._

 _Kara sat straighter on the couch, her amusement from seconds before gone in the blink of an eye._

" _Lena, what's going on?"_

 _Silence from the other side, and it was probably because of the demanding tone in her voice, but she didn't care. If Lena was in trouble, she'd be there so fast, she'd put Flash to shame._

" _The board is giving me more trouble than I anticipated," she admitted, and Kara could hear the tiredness in her voice. "My brother's influence here is far more engrained than back home, which is surprising. I need to eradicate it, Kara, or it will return with a vengeance."_

" _I can—"_

" _No, Kara, we've talked about this before."_

" _I know you're not telling me everything, Lena!"_

 _Silence again._

" _Lena, if they're threatening you…"_

 _It came out as a growl and she felt her eyes starting to burn._

" _No!" Lena hurried to say. "They're just trying to bully me around. They still believe I'm a scared, frail, little orphan." Lena let out a cold laugh. "They have no idea who they're up against. They conveniently forget I learned from the best."_

 _The fiery red light mostly vanished from Kara's eyes, but she was not convinced._

" _Lena…"_

" _Kara, I promise, if any of the board members even dare to utter a threat against me, I'll call you at once."_

 _Kara's nostrils flared. She hadn't felt this out of sorts since the Red Tornado._

" _Promise?"_

" _I promise."_

 _Kara let out a frustrated sigh and slumped back down against the couch._

" _So, when are you coming back, then?"_

" _I just need a few more days, sweetheart."_

 _Kara's ears picked on a sound far away in the city and sighed._

" _I have to go."_

" _Trouble?"_

" _I think so. I heard gunshots."_

" _All right, then, don't waste any more time, Supergirl. Go be a hero."_

" _Fine."_

" _Kara," Lena's voice sounded pleading, "please, don't be mad."_

" _I'm not mad, Lena, I just… Never mind." Kara left the couch and floated to her window. "Remember, all you have to do is call."_

" _I know. Please, be careful."_

 _Kara's voice softened._

" _You too. Talk to you later."_

" _Later."_

 _Kara put her phone back in its pocket and flew towards the sound of the gunshots._

 _Lena was hiding something from her and now she was sure of it._

'A couple days more' turned out to be almost two weeks and Kara was getting antsy.

She was bone tired from not sleeping and working nonstop, both as a reporter and as Supergirl, and being away from Lena and not knowing what she was hiding was making her crankier, and she hated being cranky. It made her feel bad afterwards, because she couldn't control her temper. It seemed it was easier to keep her powers in check than her emotions.

Frustrated, she shut down her laptop and decided to call it a day. She would text Lena on her way home, to make sure she was still up before she called. She didn't want to wake her just to say 'hi', even if hearing her voice would do wonders for her sour mood.

Fortunately, during the day there hadn't been any Supergirl emergencies, but things tended to worsen as the night fell and she really hoped she could control her humor today. The day before, she had almost broken a thief's arm. The look of terror in his eyes made her stop just in time, but then again, she was sure he would forever think twice before pointing a loaded gun to a little girl.

After a short ride on the bus, Kara keyed her way in the building and dragged herself to the elevator. She was careful enough to, every now and then, take the bus home. That's what she did before becoming Supergirl, and she had to keep it up. Alex drilled it to her every day in the beginning.

Kara rested her head against the metal walls of the elevator and closed her eyes tiredly. She understood the need to keep up appearances, but it was just so much easier and faster to just fly home.

A hand on her arm startled her and she was glad she had excellent control of her reflexes, because, otherwise, she would've opened a new door on the elevator, using sweet, old Mrs. Kowalski as a sledgehammer.

"Are you all right, dear?" The old woman looked up at her, her green eyes full of concern. "You didn't even hear me call your name, and you always have such good hearing."

Kara managed a bright smile and covered the much smaller woman's hand with her own.

"I must have dozed off, Mrs. Kowalski. Work's been keeping me up with odd hours." Kara patted her hand, reassuringly. "Let me help you with those bags."

"Oh, thank you so much, my dear. You're such a lovely girl."

Mrs. Kowalski allowed Kara to take her bags and led her to her apartment door, while she rambled on about how young people were always thinking about work and not taking enough time to rest.

"There you go, Mrs. Kowalski," Kara said with a smile, leaving the bags by the woman's door.

"Are you sure everything is all right, dear?" Mrs. Kowalski's green, inquisitive eyes searched Kara's. "This wouldn't have anything to do with that lovely girlfriend of yours, would it? I haven't seen her around."

Kara's eyes widened comically, a blush creeping up her neck.

"G-girlfriend? I—I," Kara stuttered, shocked.

Mrs. Kowalski chuckled, knowingly.

"I may be old, dear, but I'm not blind. You make a beautiful couple, and she's clearly very much in love with you."

To her dismay, Kara's blush worsened, making her bright blue eyes stand out vividly.

"T-thanks. I, hum… Lena is away on business. She'll be back soon." Kara fidgeted with her glasses.

"So, everything's all right with you two?"

"Everything's perfect." Kara smiled at her.

"I'm glad to hear that, dear. I'm very fond of you." Mrs. Kowalski smiled warmly at her. "Now, go home, eat and sleep."

"Yes, ma'am." Kara leaned down to kiss the woman's cheek before heading back to the elevator.

##

Kara opened the door to her apartment and dropped her shoulder bag unceremoniously on the hard floor. She was so tired that she couldn't even think about food, even if her stomach was already growling fiercely at her. All she wanted was a shower and her bed, but her hunger was making her crankier, so she decided on leftover pizza while she watched TV.

She took her shoes off and floated to the fridge. She was tired and lazy, and floating was just so much easier. Rao, she hoped National City would give her break tonight.

She didn't even bother to take the pizza out of the box to heat it up. She was too hungry and too sleepy. Kara slumped down on her couch, biting down on a slice a pizza, a look of disgust on her face when she started chewing.

"What's wrong with me. I hate cold pizza!"

Huffing, she shot a blast of heat on the pizza and resumed her chewing, surfing the channels until she found a documentary about Mars, streaming on National Geographic. According to J'onn, human exploring rovers had almost stumbled a few times on ancient ruins, but, luckily, it had been dismissed as an optical illusion. He had even snorted at that, and she had never seen him snort before. Apparently, he knew the place well and had been there many times when still a young Martian.

Now that she thought of it, she hadn't seen much of J'onn lately. She scowled, her eyes blinking rapidly, a slight burning sensation from lack of sleep. She had seen him last just over three weeks ago, just before Lena left…

Her thoughts faded and were left unfinished, her eyes now too heavy to remain open, a half-eaten slice of pizza dangling dangerously from her hand as she finally surrendered to exhaustion.

But her moment of rest was short lived when she jerked awake just a few hours later, a strangled cry on her lips, beads of sweat running down her face from her forehead, gasping for breath; remnants of the metallic taste of blood, the acrid smell of fuel and explosives, and blasting sounds still lingering in her mind.

Her hand reached for the comfort and warmth that weren't there and she had to bite her lip to stop the tears from falling. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on taking deep, slow breaths, in and out, until she felt her heartbeat return to normal.

She glanced around and realized that it was dark already and there was a slice of half-eaten pizza on the floor.

Rao, she was a mess. With a groan, she started to clean up. She checked her phone when she noticed the blinking light, letting her know her she had missed calls.

"Crap…" Kara grumbled when she realized she had two missed calls from Lena. She must have been completely out to miss her phone ringing.

She checked the time: almost 9:30pm. It was the middle of the night in Ireland and she wouldn't call her now. Berating herself, she texted Lena to let her know she was all right and that she would call her later.

After a long shower, she decided to work on her article again and, despite staying up all night, with a few assignments in Supergirl's account, her brief talk to Lena early in the morning somehow seemed to restore her energy and she was back to her usual perky self.

So, it really came as a surprise when Snapper's irritating voice started to fade away in the middle of his rant and then, for no reason at all, James was elbowing her.

"Kara…" he hissed in her ear, but it was too late, Snapper already spotted her.

"Am I being too boring for you, Ponytail? Should I order you some coffee?"

Kara blinked, her mind still trying to grasp what was happening.

"I'm talking to you, Ponytail!"

"N-no, sir. S-sorry." Kara fidgeted with her glasses while sitting up straighter, as she tried to explain herself, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. "I was up all-night working on the art-"

"I don't care. I don't want to know." he turned fully to face her, not caring if the room was full of Kara's colleagues. "Next time I catch you, or anyone else for that matter, dozing on my briefings, you'll grant yourself a permanent transfer to publicity. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," Kara mumbled, her eyes down, her cheeks still burning.

"I can't hear you!" he snapped.

"Yes, sir!" her voice now louder and clearly angry.

"Good!" he grinned at her, happy that he was finally able to ruffle her feathers. Her always sunny attitude gave him a headache. He turned around to face the rest of the room. "What are you all still doing here? Waiting for the story to come find you? Out!"

"Sorry," James grimaced at her, when they left the room.

"For what? You're not the one who fell asleep in the middle of your boss's briefing." Kara gave him a tight smile.

"Yeah, but… when I realized you were asleep, it was too late." James stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "What's going on, Kara? You look exhausted and you're practically sleeping on your feet. I'm worried about you."

"Everything's fine, James, don't worry. Things are still a bit busy on the Supergirl front and it's taking a lot of my time, but I'm sure things will get better soon." Kara gave him a bright, well-rehearsed smile.

"All right," he agreed, "but if there's anything I can do to help…"

The smile was genuine this time, relieved that he wasn't pushing.

"Well, you could snap some photos from the warehouses at the dock, for my article."

"Consider it done." James leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Take care of yourself, Kara, please."

"I will." She watched him go with a smile.

"Ponytail!"

Kara tensed immediately. She really hated that nickname. She turned around, forcing a contrite look on her face, because otherwise, he was about to find out what an angry Kryptonian looked like.

"Get your act together, Ponytail. Whatever you have going on, don't ever let it interfere with your work." Snapper had his hands on his hips, a sour expression on his face. "You have the potential to become a damn good reporter, but you need to keep your head on your shoulders. And let me tell you that, right now, if you weren't the only reporter from this magazine that Lena Luthor talks to, I'd dispatch you to archive duty for the next six months!"

Kara blinked at him and swallowed hard. She wasn't sure if she was being scolded or encouraged.

"Sir?"

"Get out of here. Go out to the field and clear your head, and if you need to go home to take a nap like some old lady, by all means, go, as long as that paper is on my desk by the end of the week."

He was gone before she had a chance to reply.

She knew he was right. She was the one being unprofessional, and she knew how much he valued professionalism. She was ashamed and angry for her behavior, but she really did spend most of the night working on her article to get it done on time.

She should be counting her blessings, really. She had only been caught dozing in a meeting. It would've been a lot worse if she'd awaken from a nightmare in front of the entire office.

She shuddered just thinking about it.

##

Later, Kara found herself sitting on a bench by the lake, soaking in the warm sun, with her eyes closed, a mostly eaten hotdog in one hand. It was a beautiful, sunny day, despite the winter cold. Well, she couldn't really feel the cold, but she had to play the part to perfection and she'd gotten pretty good at it. Besides, she did like winter clothes.

She was enjoying the soothing sounds of the nature around her, when her phone started ringing in her pocket and she answered it without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" she answered around a mouthful.

" _Am I interrupting your lunch, sweetheart?"_

Kara hastily swallowed her food and smiled, her eyes half closed, simply delighting herself in the warm feeling that always spread through her chest whenever she heard Lena's voice.

"Hey, sweetie. Just snacking a hotdog."

Kara heard a deep breath from the other side and chuckled: she knew she was in for a lecture.

" _Kara, I know you won't ever suffer from high cholesterol and clogged arteries, but I would feel so much better if you ate healthier food."_

"Such as kale?" she couldn't keep the disgust from her voice.

Lena laughed lightly.

" _I promised I would never again put you through such horrors, and I always keep my promises."_

"You better. My taste buds where traumatized for weeks!"

" _Nothing you didn't overcompensate with pot-stickers and ice-cream."_

"Lots of ice-cream." Kara corrected, enjoying their easy banter. Everything was so much easier and fun with Lena. "Are you still at the office?"

" _Nope. I'm in bed already, actually."_

Kara opened her eyes and stared at her phone suspiciously, mentally calculating the time zone. Lena Luthor, her workaholic 'Ihavenoneedforeighthoursofsleep' girlfriend was in bed by 10pm?

"Ok, who are you and where's my girlfriend?"

Lena laughed easily, and Kara bit her lip at that wonderful sound.

" _I didn't say I was done working."_

"Oh, thank Rao! I was worried for a moment there."

Lena chuckled.

" _How was your meeting? Snapper gave you any trouble?"_

Kara winced.

"Yeah… Let's hum… let's talk about something else, ok?"

" _Kara, what happened?"_

Kara sighed. She could lie. Lena would never know how she almost died of embarrassment just hours before, but James knew, and James had a growing tendency to share everything with Winn, who in turn tended to share with everyone else when he was tipsy, which was like, every time they got together for game night!

"I hum… I kinda fell asleep in the middle of his briefing?" Kara fidgeted with her fingers, a rueful expression on her face.

Silence.

" _You didn't,"_ Lena said, disbelief coloring her voice and Kara could just imagine the look on her face.

"I kinda did." Kara stared out the horizon, her lips pursed. She was still not over her shame.

Lena was probably so disappointed in her.

" _Sweetie… you didn't sleep again?"_

Kara cleared her throat.

"I was behind on my article. I had to get it done."

" _Was that the only reason?"_ Lena's voice was full of patience.

Silence.

" _I see."_ Lena let out a breath. _"Well, I have some good news. I'm coming back day after tomorrow."_

Kara jumped to her feet, her eyes wide, a grin brightening her face.

"You are?"

" _I am,"_ Lena said softly, _"and Kara, I don't want any welcoming party or game night, please? I just want you, a nice dinner and the both of us snuggled on your couch."_

"That sounds wonderful," Kara replied just as softly, happy tears threatening to fall. She wanted it so bad and she missed her so much.

" _Good, because I miss you, and we both need rest."_

Kara nodded as if Lena could see her.

"I can order some take away from your favorite Italian."

" _Perfect,"_ Lena replied softly. _"I have to go now, if I want to be asleep before midnight."_

"Lena, you're freaking me out!"

Lena laughed softly.

" _Talk to you tomorrow, sweetie."_

"Sleep tight."

" _You too."_

Kara stared at the darkening screen on her phone, a wave of giddiness almost overwhelming her. She wanted to shoot up flying and make barrel rolls and all sort of crazy stunts, all over National City, but she had to keep a low profile. Supergirl had a reputation to uphold and Alex would kill her.

Speaking of whom…

##

Supergirl walked inside the control room to find Winn Schott glued to his beloved screens.

"What's so interesting in a map?"

Winn almost jumped out of his skin and Kara scratched her nose to hide her mischievous smile.

"Jesus, Kara, are you trying to kill me?" Winn quickly realized his mistake and looked around frantically to make sure they were alone.

Kara chuckled, unfazed.

"Not my fault you didn't hear me come in."

Winn gave her a dirty glare.

"You probably floated to keep from making noise! Let me guess, you got to talk to the gorgeous genius you're dating and you're over the moon with giddiness?"

Kara blushed and shuffled her feet.

"As a matter a fact, I did." She crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow at him, attempting to look more like Supergirl than Kara Danvers. "Got a problem with that?"

"Problem with what?" Alex's voice carried from behind her, saving Winn from answering.

Kara turned around and smiled at her sister.

"Nothing important." She dismissed it quickly, hearing Winn huff behind her. "Did you get the meta you apprehended yesterday to talk?"

"Oh, yeah!" Alex gave her a nasty smile. "He sang like a little bird after I threatened to call Supergirl and have her melt his face if he didn't cough up those names."

"Alex! I would never do that." Kara gave her an incredulous look.

Alex chuckled. She checked her tablet and turned to leave, Kara hot on her heals.

"I know that, but he doesn't, and it worked. I'm briefing Team A for a joint operation with NCPD. Winn just got their location and thermal readings. They're sitting ducks. Want to join us?"

"Yes, but Alex, now he'll fear me." Kara whined. She didn't like to be feared – it brought back bad memories.

"Kara, he'll either hate you or fear you, and I'd rather he fears you, because it means he won't do anything stupid." Alex kept focused on her tablet as she walked. "We've been tracking them for months with NCPD, as you know, and J'onn believes that there's a strong connection between them and CADMUS. We know that they're behind the recent disappearance of several aliens in the city and we believe they're being abducted and sold out to slavers."

"Alien traffic?" Kara frowned.

"Something like that. If we can dismantle their little operation, CADMUS will take a serious financial blow and be off the grid for a while."

Kara kept her thoughts to herself. CADMUS would always find a way to obtain substantial financial resources.

"Where's J'onn anyway? I haven't seen him around lately."

"Europe," Alex answered succinctly.

That caught Kara's attention.

"Europe? Doing what?"

"It's classified," Alex looked up as they reached the briefing room.

Kara stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Alex," Kara's voice was low and pleasant, and demanding.

Alex refrained from smacking herself. Why had she gone to control? She needed nothing from Winn. Oh, that's right, she heard her sister was there and she wanted to check on her, because Lena texted her telling her Kara hadn't slept all night, again. She did look exhausted. And cranky.

"Look, governments worldwide are freaking out with the invasion. They aren't prepared to deal with this sort of threat." Alex shook her head, her eyes softening as memories of Kara's bravery flooded to her mind. "Frankly, neither are we, but we have you and they don't. So, the President asked J'onn to go to England to prepare an alien strike force for the brand-new MI-Z. The Secretary of State is working with several world leaders to create similar agencies."

Kara kept quiet, her eyes never leaving Alex's.

"Is that all he's doing in Europe?"

"Agent Danvers, we're waiting for you," Detective Maggie Sawyer poked her head out the door. "Hello, Supergirl."

"Detective," Kara acknowledge Maggie with a small smile, her eyes still carved on Alex's.

"Yes, Kara, that's all."

Kara's jaw clenched, and Alex could tell she was not convinced.

"If you think he's doing something else, ask him. All you have to do is call."

Kara nodded, but remained quiet and walked inside the briefing room.

"What was that all about? I've never seen her looking so serious."

Alex shook her head.

"Later."

Maggie nodded and followed her inside.

Kara was leaning by the wall in the darkest corner, arms crossed over her chest, the expression of utter concentration betrayed only by her constant blinking.

Maggie walked up to her and leaned by her side, mimicking her stance.

"You all right, Super?" Maggie whispered, knowing full well she could hear her.

"I'm fine." Kara forced a smile.

"You look tired." Maggie observed.

"I am." Kara admitted, glad when Alex started the briefing.

She liked Maggie, she really did, and she honestly thought she was a perfect match for Alex, but she didn't need someone else giving her the third degree, and Maggie had a way of talking that made people want to listen carefully.

Which she didn't want to do right now, because Alex's quiet, monotone instructions, and the semi-darkness of the room were making her eyelids heavier and heavier, and the last thing she thought she heard was specter, or something like that.

Her groggy brain booted back up when she felt a comforting hand on her arm, gently squeezing it.

"Kara?"

Slowly, she opened her eyes, only to be met with the concerned faces of Alex and Maggie.

"What…"

"You fell asleep," Alex told her quietly.

Kara's eyes widened, her heartbeat picking up again.

"I'm sorry! I—"

"It's all right, no one noticed." Alex gave her a reassuring smile.

"You need to go home and sleep, Kara." Maggie placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly, her voice gentle.

"No!" Kara rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands, forcing her exhaustion down. "You can brief me on the way there."

"Kara—"

"Alex, there's no way I'm letting your team face down meta-humans all by themselves." Kara interrupted, her eyes serious.

"You're falling asleep on your feet!" Alex pointed out, exasperated.

"That's because you were talking too quietly, and it was dark in here and…" Kara stopped herself, realizing she was rambling. "I'm going, Alex."

Alex threw her hands up in the air and turned her back on Kara.

"Fine, but Kara, when we get back, you're coming home with us for dinner."

"Ooo, dinner with my favorite sister." Kara floated to her sister and hugged her from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder.

"I'm your only sister, Kara!" Alex rolled her eyes but patted her arms affectionately. Kara was such a dork sometimes, but she loved her just like that.

"True, but you're still the best sister ever."

Kara kissed her cheek and floated out of the briefing room before Alex could reply.

"She has you wrapped around her little finger." Maggie smirked knowingly at her girlfriend.

"Yeah, but it's mutual, so…"

"I know." Maggie put her arms around her girlfriend, very much like her soon to be sister in law. "You're worried about her."

"She's not sleeping, she's not talking about it…" Alex turned in Maggie's embraced and snuggled closer, resting her head on her shoulder. "It's just like when she first landed here. She was afraid to go to sleep because of the nightmares and she still didn't know how to control her powers, and she was so afraid of hurting any of us, especially me, because we shared a room and I… I didn't know how to help her back then." A snort. "There was a time I didn't want to help at all. I just wanted her out of my home, out of my life and now, I can't imagine my life without her."

"I know," Maggie said, rubbing her back slowly. She knew how much Alex liked it, "but now you know how to help her and you're not alone. You have me and Lena, and Winn, and J'onn… We'll find a way to help her."

Alex smiled at her sweet girlfriend. She was such a softy.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

Alex shifted so she could kiss her.

"For listening," she mumbled as she planted another kiss on her lips, "for being here."

Maggie smiled at her, her dimples showing.

"Always."

Alex kissed her on more time before she patted her chest.

"Let's go catch some bad guys."

Maggie winked at her, excited.

##

Alex covered her eyes with her hand, Winn standing next to her, a bewildered look on his face.

"I didn't know she could do that."

Alex let out a deep breath.

"It happens only when she's exhausted."

In front of them, Supergirl floated over the DEO's balcony, curled up in a fetal position, a hand underneath her head, for support, deep in slumber.

Alex snapped a picture of her sister sleep-floating and sent it to Lena's WhatsApp.

 **Alex Danvers 19:48** : attachment sent

 **Alex Danvers 19:48** : It's getting worse. When are you coming back?

Alex put the phone back in her pocket and walked to where her sister floated.

"How do we bring her down? Do we wake her up?" Winn hurried to follow his friend.

Alex touched Kara's arm and gently pushed her down to the ground.

"It's safer to bring her down first," Alex said, gently rubbing her sister's arm. "Kara, Kara, wake up."

Ever so slowly, eyelids heavy with sleep cracked open, only to close again, as mumbled, unintelligible words escaped her lips.

"Kara, come on, we're having pot-stickers for dinner."

Kara's forehead crumpled in a frown.

"Later…" Kara mumbled, her eyes still closed. "Save…"

Alex's eyebrows shot up and Winn blinked at his sleeping friend.

"Isn't that like the universal code to get her attention?"

"It used to be. Let's try a new one." Alex smirked and leaned away from Kara. "Kara, if you don't open your eyes right this instant, I'm telling Lena."

Bloodshot, blue eyes opened immediately, and Kara sat up straight, surprising Winn, who slipped from his crouched position and ended up sitting on the cold, concrete floor.

"W-what?" Kara blinked, dazedly. "Tell Lena what?"

"That you're sleep-floating at the DEO's balcony."

"No, I'm not!" Kara sleepily rubbed her eyes with her knuckles.

"Yes, you _were_." Alex showed her the photo on her phone and Kara groaned pitifully.

"I'm sorry, Alex. It won't happen again." Kara pushed herself to her feet, not meeting her sister's eyes.

"Yes, it will, and we will talk about this, but not today. Today, you're coming home with me and we'll have a nice, quiet dinner and you can sleep on the couch."

"Alex, I—"

"You're staying, Kara, and that's the end of that." Alex flashed her phone with a smirk.

Kara rolled her eyes and stomped away, clearly unhappy.

"That's blackmail…" she grumbled. "Did you take photos too?" she growled at Winn, her eyes threatening.

"No!" Winn hurried to answer.

"You better be telling the truth, Winn, or I'll hack your phone and find all your embarrassing photos."

"You can't hack my phone, Kara," he stated smugly.

Kara gave him a mischievous smile.

"Maybe not, but Lena can."

Winn stared at her, dumbfounded.

"Huh… I didn't take any photos, I swear it!"

Kara chuckled, satisfied. There was no point in telling him that she was perfectly capable of hacking his phone. His level of security was easily breached by any true Kryptonian over the age of seven.

"You need to stop spending time with Alex," Winn grumbled.

"Why would I do that? She's my sister." Kara shot him an impatient look.

"Because you're becoming her!" he replied, annoyed.

"I'll take that as a compliment…" she mumbled behind a yawn.

Winn just stared at her.

Alex watched them go, bickering, and checked her phone.

 **Lena Luthor 19:59:** It seems it's the second time today. Something similar happened early this morning.

 **Lena Luthor 19:59:** I'll be back after tomorrow and I'll talk to her about trying a session with J'onn.

 **Alex Danvers 20:01:** Third. She fell asleep in my briefing.

 **Alex Danvers 20:01:** You better be, Luthor. She's growing more suspicious.

 **Lena Luthor 20:02:** I know. I'll be there day after tomorrow, I promise.

 **Alex Danvers:** 20:02: Why are you up anyway? It's 4am there. Do I have to worry about you too?

 **Lena Luthor:** 20:03: Hacking.

 **Alex Danvers:** 20:03: Do I wanna know?

 **Lena Luthor:** 20:04: Yes, check your email.

 **Alex Danvers:** 20:04: Will do.

 **Alex Danvers:** 20:04: Lena, please, be careful. It's almost Xmas time, and my mother is counting on you for dinner at her house. Don't make me send Kara after you.

 **Lena Luthor:** 20:05: I will, I promise.

Alex sighed and followed her sleepy sister inside. She had a bad feeling about this.

##

Kara looked up as Alex handed her a box full of pot-stickers.

"As promised."

Kara grinned and took hold of her goodies.

"Aren't we waiting for Maggie?" she asked after decimating her first pot-sticker.

Alex shook her head.

"She's working late."

"Trouble? I thought the mission went well. We caught all of them, right?"

Alex sighed.

"Not all. The leader got away, again. She's been working on this case for months. This was her best chance to catch him."

"Oh!" Kara frowned. "She can't be happy."

"That's an understatement." Alex agreed. "No one knows who he or she is, so, she's basically back at square one."

Kara winced in sympathy. She knew the feeling.

"We were really hoping to catch him this time, but the bastard seems to always be one step ahead of us."

"Maybe someone's tipping him off."

"It has crossed my mind but… Maggie doesn't even want to hear about it, because, that would mean someone she trusts is a snitch."

"Maybe I can help, do a little reporting investigation." Kara finished her last pot-sticker and eyed Alex's box hungrily. "You know sometimes reporters can get information a lot faster than the police, and I've been building a very reliable network of informers. Someone is bound to know something."

"Look at you, Miss Ace Reporter coming to the rescue." Alex gave her a disgusted look and handed over what was left of her pot-stickers. "I'll talk to her."

Kara gave her a bright smile and gleefully snatched her goodies.

After a while, her belly full, the low drone of the TV and Alex's gentle scratching of her scalp worked their magic, and Kara closed her eyes on her way to peaceful sleep, Alex keeping a careful eye on her.

But it wasn't long before Kara woke up with a start, a sob escaping her lips, her breathing heavy and rapid, hot tears falling from her terrified eyes.

"Kara?"

Alex's hand touched her back and Kara threw herself in her sister's arms without thinking and cried.

Alex soothed her with gentle words, holding her close and wrapping the blanket over her shoulders for extra comfort. After all this time, she knew exactly what calmed Kara after a nightmare.

"Better?" Alex asked, her voice barely a whisper. She knew that, this distraught and with sleep deprivation, Kara was one step away from sensory overload. She was surprised it hadn't happened yet.

Kara nodded against her shoulder, her breath still catching.

"Want to talk about it?"

Kara was silent, and Alex waited, knowing she would tell her, no matter how long it took.

"It's usually under control when Lena stays over," she finally mumbled, her hand still clutching her sister's shirt, "but after she went to Ireland, it… got a little out of control."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alex asked, her voice devoid of recrimination.

"I—I didn't want to bother you… I can't just crash here or call in the middle of the night every time I have a nightmare."

"Why not?"

"Alex, I'm not a kid anymore and… you have Maggie now. I don't want you to worry about me all the time. You have your own life to live and you found someone to share it with." Kara sniffled a little, her voice hoarse from crying.

"Kara…" Alex closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "So, that means that now that you have Lena, I can't reach out to you in the middle of the night if I have a problem?"

"Of course not, Alex! That would be…" Kara stopped herself.

"Yes? That would be what, Kara?"

A defeated sigh.

"Ridiculous."

"Right! So, why are we having this conversation? Of course, I will always worry about you. You're my sister, you're my friend and you're my dork." That made Kara laugh. "And you worry about me too all the time, Kara. It is what sisters do. We care for each other, we support each other, and we drive each other crazy, too."

"I know, I'm being silly."

"Totally! By the way, that last part is actually mandatory."

Kara chuckled, feeling a little better. She may have come to this planet an orphan, with no home, no planet, no people to go back to, but she'd been so lucky with her wonderful adoptive family, with the wonderful people she'd met so far. Earth had given her a second chance at life, at happiness, and sometimes she felt she wasn't thankful enough for that.

"So, are you telling me about these nightmares?"

Alex kept her gentle soothing touch.

"I don't remember much, really, but… I keep seeing the battleship crashing and… the explosion and…" Kara stopped, the flashing images in her mind overwhelming her. "So many people died in that crash…"

"Kara…"

"I know, it's silly. They would've obliterated the city, thousands would've died and-"

"-and _you_ almost died." Alex pulled her closer without conscious thought. "Do you know how many times you crashed on me until you were stable enough to leave the OR and transfer to the ICU? Five times, Kara. Five times! I almost gave up on you."

Kara almost stopped breathing, never expecting Alex to talk about this, the anguish she heard in her sister's voice clenching her heart.

"Why didn't you?" she asked, her voice small. By all accounts, she should be dead. She knew her injuries had been brutal, she'd seen the file.

"Because you're my sister and I love you and I can't bare the thought of losing you, and Rao was not about to take you away from me without one hell of a fight!" Alex answered fiercely, her voice quivering slightly. "And J'onn remembered to ask Clark for a blood transfusion."

"It worked."

Alex nodded, her throat too constricted to talk.

 _Alex stared at the monitor with Kara's vitals displayed on, holding onto her sister's hand tightly, as if trying to send vital energy into her._

 _They had just brought her back for the fifth time and it would be the last if J'onn's plan didn't work. She wouldn't submit her sister to this torture any longer. Her body was frail and weak – too weak. She looked behind her shoulder, staring hopefully at the OR's door, but it remained closed._

" _C'mon…"_

 _Alex closed her eyes, willing whatever entity might be paying attention to her to keep Kara alive just a while longer, just until she tried this one last time. She refused to let her sister go without a fight and certainly not after all that Kara had been through to keep them all safe. Everyone in National City owned their life to Supergirl and it was not fair that she would die after all she'd done!_

 _She found herself mumbling a Kryptonian prayer to Rao, one that she had learned from Kara a long time ago, when they first started to become real sisters. Her Kryptonian wasn't the best, but if Rao really existed, then he would understand her request, no matter what language she spoke._

 _The sound of the door opening caught her attention and she watched as a nursed rushed inside with a blood unit, hooking it up to start the transfusion._

 _She squeezed Kara's hand tighter._

" _Hold on sis, please, hold on…" she mumbled as she watched the blood slowly dripping into her sister's broken body._

 _The fact that she was not alone, that there was still a team patching up Kara's less urgent injuries, was completely irrelevant to her as she allowed the tears to fall, while watching the readings on the screen slowly grow stronger and stable._

 _Her eyes stayed glued on that screen for almost an hour, a second unit of blood being pumped into Kara's in the meanwhile, until Dr. Wilson finally allowed Kara to be transported to the ICU._

 _She wasn't off the hook yet, but now, at least, she had a fighting chance. It was all up to her now._

 _Alex argued that she wanted to stay with her sister, but Dr. Wilson ordered her to take a shower first and eat something. She would do her sister no good if she collapsed._

 _Alex agreed quietly and was left alone in the OR, looking down at her blue scrubs, tainted with red; tainted with her sister's blood. Kara's discarded and ruined suit to one side brought back the reality of what had happened for hours in that room, of what might have happened if Superman wasn't available for a blood transfusion, and it all came suddenly crashing down on her._

 _She would've fallen to the floor, so lost in her anguish, if strong arms hadn't wrapped around her in support. Her foggy mind somehow recognized J'onn, but she was too distraught to talk._

 _He just let her cry until she was able to think again, completely supporting her weight against his body._

" _Thank you…" she mumbled._

 _He kissed her head, gently._

" _Go clean yourself up. Only then are you allowed to stay at Kara's room." He gave her a look full of compassion. "She's strong. Trust her, but she needs you to stay strong for her."_

 _Alex gave him a small smile and nodded, leaving the room without looking back._

 _She knew she would eventually return to this very room again. It was especially designed for Supergirl, for her every medical need, but she hoped to God she wouldn't have to come back anytime soon._

"Thank you for not allowing Lena to stay at the DEO," Kara said. She knew it had been Alex's orders to force Lena out of the facilities.

"You're welcome." Alex kissed the blonde head resting on her shoulder. "And Kara, the crash's casualties were not that many. We're still hunting down most of them."

Kara pushed away from Alex's arms, disbelief in her eyes.

"They escaped?"

Alex nodded, surprised that Kara hadn't seen the escaping shuttles when she was forcing the battleship into the desert.

"The shuttles started leaving the ship as soon as it entered Earth's atmosphere. They were all over the place. Didn't you see them?"

"No, I—I was so focused on stopping the battleship that I… I didn't realize they were escaping." Kara frowned, conflicting emotions waging a war inside her head. On one side, still many had died, and she couldn't help but feel guilty about it, but on the other side, probably most of them had survived and that made her feel better, in a way.

"It's one of the reasons J'onn is in Europe. Many have been spotted in northern Europe and they need to take action."

Kara nodded, still bewildered.

"And what are we doing with them?"

"They're being held at a secret facility in Alaska. Lena's helping retrace their coordinates to send them back to their galaxy, but we still have to find a safe way to open that portal again."

"Oh…"

Before either of them could say anything else, both their phones went off.

Alex groaned and let her head drop against the couch.

"So much for a night off."

"C'mon, I'll fly you there." Kara patted her leg, glad for a distraction from her problems.

Alex watched her carefully.

"Why don't you stay here and try to get some sleep and I'll call you if it's really necessary."

Kara shook her head, her eyes cast down.

"I'm tired of dreaming, Alex," she admitted softly.

Alex's eyes softened.

"Kara, you need to sleep. How long do you think it will take before you make a mistake? How long before you hurt someone because you're too tired to control your strength, your powers?"

Kara played with her fingers, her lower lip quivering.

"It's just one more day, Alex. I can take it. Lena will be back day after tomorrow."

"What if she doesn't?" Alex asked, taking Kara's hands in hers. "She already postponed it twice. It could happen again."

"She promised." Kara stared at their joined hands.

"Kara…"

"She promised…"

Alex hung her head, defeated.

"All right, then let's make a deal: you'll fly me to the DEO and, if it turns out to be something we can handle without you, you'll stay there, in your room, and take a sedative." Alex made eye contact with her sister. "I'll stay with you until you fall asleep, I promise."

Kara opened her mouth to refuse, but her tired mind betrayed her, and she nodded her agreement. She really needed to sleep, but she was so tired of dreaming, of waking up in terror of things she couldn't even quite remember when she was awake, she was beginning to dread falling asleep.

"Good." Alex hugged her tightly, relieved. "Let's go, then."

##

It turned out to be nothing major, and Alex quickly assembled a team to deal with it.

As promised, Kara went to her private room at the DEO and drank the sedative Alex gave her.

It didn't take long for it to take effect, Alex holding Kara's hand until she fell into a deep sleep.

Alex didn't know for how long the sedative would work on her, but at least it should give her a couple of hours of rest. She hoped.

After she was sure Kara was asleep and comfortable, she left the room quietly and picked up her phone, dialing a number on speed dial.

" _Alex, what's wrong?"_

"Well, hello to you too." Alex smirked at Lena's anxious greeting.

" _Why are you calling me so early? Where's Kara?"_

"Asleep. I gave her a sedative. She can't sleep for more than a few hours without waking up with nightmares."

Lena sighed from the other side.

"You have to come back, Lena. She's afraid to fall asleep, and apparently, she only feels safe with you."

" _I will return tomorrow, no matter what, Alex, I promise."_

"Good." Alex let out a breath of relief. "So, how are things."

" _It's been cold, and I miss the sun and warmth of National City. I love Ireland, but the weather sucks in the Winter."_

"Ah, not alone I see."

" _Of course, but the Irish whiskey helps keeping the cold away."_ Lena forced a small chuckle. _"Give me a sec."_

Alex heard Lena's muffled voice as she obviously talked to someone in the background.

Then, suddenly, a loud bang was heard in the background, followed by a rapid popping sound, one she was very familiar with.

She could hear screaming far away.

"Lena, what's going on?"

" _I'm not sure…"_

Alex could hear the fear in Lena's voice.

"Those are gunshots, Lena. Get the hell out of there, now!"

" _Fuck!"_

Alex heard rustling and banging as Lena apparently was breaking something.

"Do you have the gun I gave you?"

" _Right here!"_ Lena cried out triumphantly.

"Good! Get out, find shelter, and use it only as a last resort! I'm calling J'onn!"

" _Right! There's a safe passage in here, somewhere!"_

"Use it, dammit!"

" _I have to… Found it!"_

"Go! And Lena, if you get one scratch, I swear to God, I will kick your ass!"

The gunshots sounded closer now.

" _I'll call y—"_

Lena's voice was cut off by the resounding sound of an explosion.

"Lena? Lena?!" Alex yelled at her phone, but no sound came out of it. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

Alex ran to the control room, calling Winn halfway there.

"Track Lena's phone now!" she shouted before she hung up.

Alex stormed inside, only stopping at Winn's side.

"Where is she?" she breathed out.

Winn stared at her wide eyed.

"I—I don't know." he swallowed. "Her signal is dead."

Alex glared at him, her heartbeat thundering inside her head.

She picked up her phone again and dialed a number.

##

Kara shot up to a sitting position, her eyes wide with terror, her chest heaving. Her trembling hand clenched at her chest, her heart hammering violently. Her mind was still clogged from the sedative, but she couldn't shake the dreadfulness from her heart.

"Lena!"

###

* * *

 **Note:** This chapter turned out to be longer and a bit different than what I originally planned, but... Hope you like it.

Please let me know you think. Your comments keep me going.

You guys rock!


	4. Chapter 4

Note: this is the 2nd part of Hugs, Comfort & Blankies and follows up Comfort Me

Disclaimer: TV/Comics/Books characters do not belong to me. I write for fun and the only thing I get from this is lots of more fun. There might be some TV/Comics/Books Canon, but it's mostly for background's sake. There might also be characters that are not TV/Comics/Books related – those are mine.

* * *

Once again, thank you so much for all your lovely reviews!

This one was hard to write, because there were many emotional pieces and when I finished it, I realized it was the longest chapter so far, so, crossing my fingers. Hope you like it.

By now, you've all realized there's a subplot. What do you think Lena and Alex are up to? 😉

Please let me know you think. Your comments keep me going.

You guys rock!

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

Kara's heart was pounding in her chest and she tried desperately to make sense of all the emotions bubbling inside her. Everything around her looked blurry and confusing, except for Lena's name flashing inside her head, the growing sense of panic and detachment becoming dangerously overwhelming.

Groggily, she tried to reach her phone. It was right there, on the nightstand by her bed, but it all seemed so far away and so out of reach. She tried again and managed to touch the phone, only to knock it to the ground.

She groaned, frustrated, and tried to get out of bed, reaching for the phone again, but nothing seemed to be working properly with her body and her legs just gave in when she tried to stand up, falling heavily on her knees.

She felt no pain, just a dizziness that was overwhelming and incapacitating. She tried to reach her phone one more time, managing to take a solid grip on it this time. Her breathing was still ragged and heavy, her vision blurry, and she had to try several times before being able to unlock her phone and dial Lena's number, only to reach voice mail instead.

She let out a growl of frustration, carelessly dropping the phone again.

"Lena…" she rasped, frantic .

Kara tried to use the bed as support for getting herself up, but her uncooperative legs felt like jelly. Getting angrier by the minute, Kara let out an enraged cry.

"Damn it…" desperate tears fell from her eyes. She knew Lena was in danger, that she needed her. Why was nothing working? She was trying so hard to float, but why couldn't she?

"Kara?"

Kara's foggy mind recognized Alex's voice and she looked up, anxious.

"Alex… help me up…"

"Kara, what are you doing?"

Alex's hands grabbed her arm forcibly as another pair of hands grabbed her other arm.

"I have…" Kara licked her suddenly dry lips. "Lena… I have… I have to get to her."

"Kara, Lena is in Ireland and—"

"—she's in danger!" Kara tried to escape from her hands that held her down and almost succeeded, but her strength was failing her as well.

"Kara, Lena is fine. We'll call her once you calm down."

Kara shook her head, hot tears still running down her face.

"Phone is off…" Kara tried again. "I have to…"

"Code KSG11," Alex shouted to the person next to her. "Now!"

"Alex… help me up, please…" Kara was sobbing now, grabbing Alex's arm desperately, her dulled eyes pleading. "Please… I have to get to her…"

"Sweetie, she's all right, it was all a bad dream." Alex pressed against her, trying to hold her down with her own weight. "We'll try to call her in a minute, but please, I need you to calm down."

"No!" Kara tried again, despair giving her a new sense of purpose and newfound strength, and she almost, almost succeeded in pushing Alex away from her. "I have to go there…"

"Kara, please," Alex begged.

Kara let out a low whimper as she felt the tingling pain of kryptonite spreading from her wrists, her now unresisting arms held secured against the bed.

"Alex…" she let out a heartbreaking moan.

"I'm sorry…" Alex whispered brokenly. "I'm so sorry."

"No…" Kara sobbed harder, still trying to get up, but her body was too weak and unresponsive. "Alex… please…"

Kara felt a sting in her arm, a hot liquid invading her body quickly.

"Nonono… Please, help me up…" Kara was crying quietly now. "Help… Lena… please…"

Her words started to slur, and it only took a moment for the kryptonite laded sedative to take effect.

Alex dropped her forehead against Kara's, tears falling from her eyes, her sister's body still shaking with her ragged breathing, her lips still trying to mumble Lena's name as the sedative dulled her senses.

"I'm so sorry…"

A hand on her shoulder forced her to look away from her sister's relaxing face, to see Maggie's concerned eyes, Winn to one side with a hand entangled in his hair, staring down at Kara, shocked.

"What happened?"

Alex pinched the bridge of her nose.

"She woke up beside herself, still sedated… She must have had a dream about Lena and was trying to fly to Ireland."

Maggie's eyes widened, dumbfounded .

"Couldn't you just call Lena so she could talk to her?"

Alex swallowed, her eyes tearing up again, her lips pursed, and she just shook her head.

"Alex?"

"I've lost her, all right? I've lost her!" Alex rubbed her eyes forcibly to stop more tears from falling. "I—I don't know where she is, if she's…"

Maggie sat down on the floor, beside her, keeping her hand on her shoulder.

"What happened?"

"I don't know…" she mumbled, her eyes closed. "All I know is I was talking to her and there were gunshots and an explosion and then her phone was dead."

Her lower lip quivered. What would she tell Kara? How would she tell her?

"Have you—"

"I'm waiting on a call." She held up her phone, shakily, her face tense. "What will I tell her, Maggie?"

"Honey, let's not think the worst. That Luthor kid is more resilient than any of us can imagine. I'm sure she's all right."

"I hope so, Maggie, I hope so…"

Alex entwined her fingers with Kara's, Maggie's arms wrapping around her shoulders, soothingly.

She was so focused on the phone in her hand, she never even noticed when Winn covered Kara with a blanket and left the room.

 **##**

Alex was pacing back and forth, even as she spotted the black helicopter far away, in the horizon. Couldn't that thing fly any faster?!

"You're going to wear a hole in the ground." Maggie pointed out nonchalantly.

Alex gave her a wary look but kept pacing until the helicopter started its descent for landing.

The blades were still rotating when Lena Luthor jumped out of the helicopter and rushed to Alex's side, anxiety pouring out of her.

"Alex, where's—"

Alex stopped her tirade with an imperative hand in the air, her lips locked in a thin line, her face strained, the stress from hours earlier still evident.

 _"Tell me she's alive!" Alex answered the phone on the first ring._

Lena stopped immediately, a frown on her face but said nothing when Alex started circling her, inspecting.

"Alex, what the—"

"—Are you hurt?" Alex asked quietly.

"What? Hurt? No, I—"

 _"Alex? It's me, I'm all right."_

The strong arms that wrapped around her body and pulled her into a tight hug, cut her off abruptly. Lena blinked, stunned. Unsure of how to react, Lena tentatively put her arms around Alex, hugging her back.

 _Alex started crying, dropping the phone on Maggie's lap, who was still sitting by her side, hiding her face on her neck._

 _Maggie blinked, fearing the worst, and stared at the phone in shock._

 _"Alex, are you there?"_

 _Maggie heard a disembodied voice calling out from the phone and picked it up, forcing her voice to stay strong._

 _"Hello?"_

 _"Who's this?"_

 _"Lena? Oh, thank God!" Maggie let out a shuddering breath, pulling Alex closer to her. "Lena, it's Maggie Sawyer."_

 _"Ah, detective, where's Alex?"_

 _"Right here, but a bit…" Maggie looked down at her still crying girlfriend. "She can't talk right now. Are you all right?"_

 _"Yes, I'm fine, just a bit shaken, that's all." Her voice gave nothing away. "Where's Kara? Is she home?"_

 _Maggie looked over her shoulder, at the peaceful looking Kryptonian. Kara wouldn't wake up anytime soon._

 _"No, she's here at the DEO. She's asleep."_

 _"All right, then." Lena sighed. "I have to go now. Have Alex call me on this number when she's available."_

 _"I will," Maggie said quietly, "and Lena?"_

 _"Yes?"_

 _"Come home."_

"Don't you ever, ever pull a stunt like that on me again, got it?" Alex growled in her ear.

"Got it," Lena replied softly. Was Alex's voice quivery?

"Promise me."

Lena swallowed against the surge of emotion threatening to overwhelm her.

"I promise."

So, this was what it felt like to have people care for you, all nice and warm inside.

"Good." Alex pulled away without looking at her and started walking inside the building, not looking back. "Let me take you to her."

Lena nodded, and followed her quietly, only then realizing Maggie was there too.

"Hello, Detective."

Maggie gave her a smile and patted her shoulder.

"These Danvers girls, they have a way of sneaking up on you and make you feel like you're the only person that matters in the universe, don't they?"

Lena gave her a small smile.

"They sure do."

Maggie chuckled.

"And that's Maggie, I thought I told you that before."

Lena nodded and thanked her, her eyes on Alex Danvers' back.

 **##**

It didn't take long for them to reach the quarters level and Kara's room, but Lena was completely unprepared for what was waiting for her: Kara was huddled in a corner of her room, eyes shut firmly, tears running down freely, her head hiding between her knees, her hands pressed tightly against her ears.

"Shit! Sensory overload," Alex explained succinctly, stepping closer to her sister, but refraining from touching her. "We have to tread carefully. She may not recognize us and lash out, and…"

Alex's eyes widened when she spotted Lena kneeling by her sister's side.

"Lena, what the hell do you think you're doing?! She could hurt you!" Alex growled.

"She won't," Lena said softly, her eyes full of tears. Her heart was breaking for Kara. She shouldn't have taken so long to come back. Kara needed her and she failed her miserably. "She knows it's me."

"Lena…" Alex warned, taking a step towards her, but Maggie stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Let her."

"If she hurts you, she'll never forgive herself."

"She won't," Lena repeated, her voice no more than a whisper.

Carefully, Lena touched Kara's shoulder.

"Sweetie, it's Lena."

Kara flinched at the touch, but she didn't pull away, her mind somehow recognizing this as a friendly touch. The touch moved to the hand covering her ear and gently tugged at it, but Kara didn't budge, letting out an anxious whimper instead.

Amidst the chaos of loud noises in her head, her name was being called and her hand was tugged again, and this time, this time she didn't feel like resisting anymore.

A hand wrapped around her head and gently tugged. She felt her head rest against something warm and… there was a noise coming out of it and her mind panicked at that. She tried to pull away, she didn't want any more noises – her head was hurting and pounding, but the hand still held her down and the noise coming from that warm place began to break through the mayhem in her head, louder and clearer than anything else and she was finally able to make sense of what it was: a heartbeat, one she was very, very familiar with.

Kara let out a loud gasp when her foggy mind realized she was being held by Lena, more tears falling from her puffy eyes.

Kara wrapped her arms tightly around the executive and held onto her, sobbing uncontrollably, her face hiding in her chest when everything else, but the wonderful sound of that heartbeat started to fade away.

Lena rested her head against Kara's, holding her close, not minding one bit if Kara's hold on her was a little too tight to be comfortable.

"What happened?" she asked quietly, her voice breaking in the end.

"I—" Alex knelt by their side, risking placing a hand on Kara's back, relieved when Kara didn't flinch. "I gave her a sedative last night, to help her sleep at least a few hours, but she woke up a few minutes later, calling out for you, frantic. I had to subdue her with kryptonite because she was trying to fly to Ireland to be with you."

Lena opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"Last night?" she finally croaked.

Alex nodded, rubbing her sister's back soothingly. Kara was slowly calming down, though her hold on Lena never relented.

"Just a little after our call was interrupted." Alex gave her a meaningful look. Kara was still too agitated, but lately she had been displaying an uncanny tendency for catching on details at the oddest moments.

"Oh!" Lena frowned. Had Kara sensed something was wrong? That was impossible, right?

"We should take her to bed." Maggie suggested, her voice quiet. She had never seen Kara like this before, and it was frankly heartbreaking.

Lena shook her head.

"Let her calm down first or else we won't be able to move her," Lena said, giving Alex a warning look, "and I'd rather not have her sedated again unless we really have no choice."

"I didn't," Alex said quietly, her eyes just as serious.

"I know." Lena kissed Kara's head again, still carefully covering her other ear, to make sure she focused only on her heartbeat.

It took a while, but Kara finally calmed down enough to be reasoned with and, between the three of them, they were able to help the Kryptonian to bed, Kara never relenting Lena's hand.

Alex and Maggie left shortly after Kara was curled up in bed, her puffy, dazed eyes firmly trained on Lena as she rummaged around her bag.

When Lena finally laid down, Kara snuggled against her immediately, nose pressed against her neck, inhaling deeply; she craved her scent - it soothed her senses like a healing balm, her hand already curled on her shirt, over her heart.

Lena pulled their blanky over them, making sure it covered all of Kara.

Kara whimpered softly when the soft fabric that smelled like Lena touched her skin, hot tears brimming her eyes again.

"You brought blanky…" she whispered hoarsely.

Lena smiled for the first time in what seemed like forever.

"I carry it with me always," Lena said, scratching her scalp lightly.

"That's so sweet…"

"It always brings you comfort."

"You bring me comfort…" Kara mumbled, her voice heavy with sleep and exhaustion. "Please, don't go…"

"I'm not going anywhere, sweetie, I promise." Lena kissed her head, keeping her gentle ministrations long after she felt Kara's breathing deepen and even in deep sleep.

Touching Kara like this always gave her such a feeling of contentment and her mind started to wander to the first time she realized this.

 _She was nervous, she really was, and it was ridiculous! It was just game night at Kara's, with people she already knew. So, why was she so nervous? She'd faced down too many hostile boards, often enough to be this nervous about such a trivial thing._

 _It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that this was her first time at game night, with Kara's friends, who weren't that much fond of her, just a few days after their first kiss, could it?_

 _And it surely couldn't have anything to do with the fact they hadn't seen each other since Kara's gotten her powers back, could it?_

 _It certainly wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that she was terrified that Kara's absence of late and scattered messages meant that she was regretting their kiss, that it had all been a mistake, a misunderstanding, could it?_

 _She'd seen the want in Kara's eyes, the need, but Kara was an emotional wreck that day, maybe she…_

 _"Lena?"_

 _Lena turned sharply around, surprised to see Kara outside her apartment building. She'd been pacing around for a while now, trying to summon her courage to go up and, of course, torturing herself with negative thoughts. She couldn't have heard her, could she?_

 _"Kara, I— What are you doing here?"_

 _Kara looked at her confused._

 _"I live here," she answered, stepping closer._

 _"I mean outside," Lena berated herself. Why was she this nervous? Kara was here, talking to her, wasn't she?_

 _Did she look just as tired now as when she last saw her?_

 _"Oh!" Kara gave her an embarrassed smile and stared at her fidgeting hands. "I, hum… I heard you pacing, so I decided to come down here, because it seems like you're nervous and I wanted to tell you that it's ok if you don't want to come up just yet. We can stay here for as long as you need."_

 _Lena looked up at her best friend and realized she was as nervous as she was._

 _It was ridiculous._

 _"What if I don't yet feel ready to be with them?" she couldn't help but ask._

 _Kara stepped closer to her and gently took her cold hands into her warmer ones._

 _"Then I'll walk you home or wherever you want to go, and we can reschedule for another time," she said quietly, her eyes searching Lena's, worriedly._

 _Lena stared down at their linked hands, the warmth coming out of Kara's hands spreading through her, soothingly._

 _"I am a little nervous," Lena admitted, with a rueful smile. "I can't remember the last time I felt this insecure."_

 _"Lena…" Kara squeezed her hands. "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. If you don't want to stay, I—"_

 _"I do, it's just…" Lena bit her lip, trying to collect her thoughts._

 _"Lena, what is it? You can tell me."_

 _Lena sighed, dejected ._

 _"We never talked about… you know, when we kissed and I… I don't…" she let out a frustrated breath._

 _Absolutely ridiculous!_

 _"What I'm trying to say is, I don't know what we are now. Are we still just friends? Are we dating?" Lena looked up at Kara, reading all the emotions playing in those amazing blue eyes. She couldn't bear the thought of losing her and she hoped she wasn't pushing too much, too soon. "We haven't talked since I left that day, and… I don't know where I stand with you, Kara, and…"_

 _Warm, gentle lips pressed against hers and completely derailed her thoughts. Kara pulled on her hands, to bring her closer, tenderly deepening the kiss._

 _"Does that answer your questions?" she asked quietly, her lips still pressed against Lena's._

 _"Not all…" Lena whispered, her breathing erratic._

 _Kara pulled her closer even, nibbling at her lower lip._

 _"Tell me."_

 _"Are you going to ask me out? On a date?" Lena melted completely into her touch. How could one simple kiss play such havoc in her mind._

 _Kara let go of her hands to wrap her arms around her, deepening the kiss once more. Lena moaned into her mouth, her hands aching to touch her everywhere, but contenting themselves to capture fistfuls of fabric, leaving no inch between them._

 _Slowly, Kara broke off the kiss, pulling her into a full body hug._

 _"Yes," she breathed in her ear._

 _"Yes, what?" Lena snuggled closer, her mind coated in a warm haze._

 _"Do you want to go out on a date with me?" Kara asked, and Lena could hear the smile in her voice._

 _"Oh!" Lena chuckled self-conscious, her brain trying to reboot. "I'd love to."_

 _Kara pulled away and smiled at her._

 _"Great! I'll call you tomorrow with the details."_

 _Lena smiled, happy._

 _Why was she worried again?_

That night, Kara walked inside her apartment with Lena in tow, fingers entwined.

Lena remembered how Alex had looked at them, smirked and extended her hand to her girlfriend, who grumbled something, but pulled a 50$ bill out of her wallet anyway. James gave her a nod of acknowledgment, all the while giving her the warning look 'don't hurt my friend' – she was more than used to those, and Winn, well, Winn just smiled and winked at her.

At least she had another friend there, besides Kara, and after their little make out session outside, Lena felt invincible. It did help that, throughout the night, Kara was always by her side, sharing small touches here and there, affectionate glances, and even shyly stealing a kiss when they went to the kitchen to get more beer.

She ended up staying the night, sharing Kara's bed once more, after the blonde admitted she hadn't slept much since Lena had last stayed there.

Lena nuzzled Kara's head, inhaling her scent deeply.

"I love you," she murmured, knowing Kara couldn't hear her. "So very much…"

 **##**

"That is disgustingly cute," Alex grumbled quietly when she walked inside Kara's room.

Lena was spooning Kara, her face hidden in the mane of blonde hair, arm firmly wrapped around Kara's body, their fingers entangled and pressed together under Kara's chin.

Alex put a tray down on the far end table and snapped a photo, a wicked smile on her face. Putting her phone away, she sat by Kara's side and touched her shoulder, gently.

They were both asleep for over ten hours and even though she knew both were exhausted, she was beginning to worry.

"Kara," she called out softly.

Kara stirred, her eyes moving under her eyelids, but they remained closed.

"Open your eyes, sis, just for little while."

Blue eyes cracked open and Kara looked at her groggily, her breathing still heavy with sleep.

"Alex…" she croaked.

"You've been asleep for over ten hours, just wanted to make sure you're all right."

"Tired…" she mumbled, her eyes closing again.

Kara pulled Lena's hand against her lips, maybe to deliver a kiss, but she fell asleep before she could.

Alex shook her head. Well, at least she was responsive. She'd been worried that the second sedative might have a nasty effect on her.

"Alex?"

Alex placed a hand on Lena's shoulder, a smile playing her lips.

"Hey, how do feel?"

"Like I've been up for the past seventy-two hours…" Lena mumbled hoarsely, her eyes sleepy.

"You have, so you're entitled." Alex kept smiling at her. "But you've also been asleep for the past ten hours, so…"

"Not long enough, then…"

Alex chuckled.

"I brought you some food and fresh coffee, in case you're hungry. I also called your assistant to let her know you're safe, and to cancel all your meetings for today."

Lena was silent, her workaholic mind ready to dismiss Alex's concern. She had to go back to the office, there was too much to take care of.

"Thanks, Alex," Lena said softly, "I'll just stay here for a little while longer. I don't want to wake her up just yet. She's been asleep since you left."

Alex nodded, satisfied that Kara was finally getting some sleep. It wasn't enough still, and the nightmares wouldn't vanish in thin air just because Lena was back, but at least she was resting now. She peered at her sister to make sure that she was indeed asleep.

"Come outside for a while. We need to debrief."

"I'm not leaving until she wakes up. I'm not risking her having a nightmare for this."

"Fine. We can talk here, then. What happened? Lena, you almost—"

The blasting sounds that had her ears ringing for hours, assaulted her mind with an intensity she wasn't yet prepared for.

"—Almost doesn't count." She willed her voice to keep steady. "We'll talk later. I'm too tired right now."

Alex studied her for a moment, unhappy, but agreed. She needed to know, to take precautions, but she also understood Lena needed time to process whatever had happened.

"Eat something, and when she wakes up, take her home and rest."

Alex patted her arm and left, leaving her alone with her dark memories.

Lena buried her face in the blonde curls and allowed the tears that had been building for the past two days to finally fall, her fingers tightening around Kara's, seeking comfort.

 **##**

Lena had been buried in reports all morning. She promised Kara she would take it easy, but there was just too much do. They had agreed that Kara would meet her there for lunch and that she would drop around 6pm to pick her up.

Lena rubbed her eyes tiredly and chuckled to herself: not to pick her up, but to make sure she would leave on time. She had it all planed. They would stop by Lena's favorite Italian and head to Kara's home for their previously made plans. Of course, Kara wouldn't let her off the hook.

"Hey."

Lena looked up over her shoulder at the sound of the beautiful superhero's voice, coming from her balcony's door.

"Kara." Lena smiled happily at her. "Is it lunchtime already?"

"Huh… no, I—I can't stay for lunch." Kara looked down at herself, stepping inside the office - she didn't look happy at all.

"Trouble?" Lena frowned, getting up from her chair to meet her girlfriend halfway, so she could hug her.

"Yeah, an alien ship was spotted up north." Kara tightened her lips. "Alex asked me to check it out, just to make sure we're not having problems again. It's probably one of the shuttles that escaped."

"Oh." Lena pulled her into a tight hug. "Are you going alone?"

"No, Alex is meeting me there in 10 minutes." Kara rested her head on Lena's shoulder and closed her eyes, reveling in the comfort of Lena's presence.

Lena snugged her hands under the red cape and rubbed her back gently.

"Mm, you're all nice and warm."

Kara smiled as Lena started to gently rock them.

"I'm always warm. You, on the other hand, are a bit chilly." Kara pulled her closer. "It's Winter, Lena, you should keep your balcony's door closed. You'll catch a cold."

"And how will Supergirl visit me then?"

"She can knock," Kara replied, blithely.

Lena chuckled and kept her gentle rocking.

"Are we still on for later?"

"I hope so," Kara mumbled. "I miss just being with you."

"Me too," Lena admitted softly.

She kissed the blonde head on her shoulder.

"So, about Christmas," Lena started.

"What about it?" Kara asked quietly.

"Are you going home, to Midvale?"

" _We_ are, Lena. I'm not leaving you here alone," Kara replied, her eyes still closed and her voice sounding more and more like she was about to fall asleep, "and if you insist in staying here, I'm staying with you. We've talked about this."

Lena's eyes softened, her heart swelling with the love she felt for this wonderful person.

"All right, but are you sure your mother knows I'm coming over? Does she even know about us? I can't just drop in unannounced, Kara. What if she doesn't want me there?"

When she failed to get a reply, Lena frowned and listened to Kara's breathing: deep and even.

"Did Supergirl just fell asleep on me?" she mumbled in awe. "Kara?"

"Mm?"

"Sweetheart, you're asleep."

"No, 'm not…" Kara mumbled sleepily.

Lena chuckled. This was endearing.

"Yes, you are, sweetie." Lena stopped her rocking motion, realizing it wasn't helping to keep Kara awake. "You need to meet with your sister in a few minutes."

"Don't wanna… Comfy…"

Lena smiled and carefully pushed Kara away, staring into sleepy blue eyes.

"But you have to." Lena touched her face. "Are you all right to fly up there?"

"Yeah…" Kara rubbed her eyes grumpily and it was all Lena could take, before dragging Kara to the couch for a nap. "Sorry…"

"It's all right, sweetheart. I wish you could stay."

"Me too…" Kara forced a smile and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "You're the best pillow in the universe."

Lena laughed easily.

"Lena Luthor, CEO turned pillow."

Kara grinned and this time kissed her lips.

"Don't work too hard, and, please, don't skip lunch."

"I won't, I promise." Another kiss. "Be careful."

"Always." Kara gave her a smile and floated to the balcony, taking off into the sky.

Lena thought it was odd, she'd never seen Kara float before. Not when she was this close to the ground.

She kept her attention a while longer on the departing patch of red and blue, and returned to her desk, her eyes falling on a pile of dark folders by her laptop. She picked the top one, still unnamed, staring at it for the longest time, before focusing on the one still at her desk: GAEL.

With a heavy sigh, she grabbed them both and put them safely away in her safe. Neither should be lying around, at the mercy of prying eyes.

 **##**

Somewhere at the desert,

Northern section

Kara kept her arms crossed over her chest, staring far away, at the alien ship trying to blend in with the desert landscape.

"Strike teams Alpha and Beta are almost in position." Alex checked on her tablet.

Kara nodded, her eyes fixed on the ship.

"They're still inside. I can see they're armed with small weapons on their hips, probably something that resembles guns."

Alex nodded.

"I've seen those. They shoot a beam of energy powerful enough to kill a human being."

Kara nodded.

"Then maybe I should go first, try to convince them to surrender."

Alex gave her a look.

"All right, but only after everyone else is in position, just in case they have something up their sleeve."

For once, Kara agreed without a fight. She was tired and sleepy and cranky, and she just wanted this to be over so she could go home to Lena.

"Listen," Alex started, her voice unusually repented, "I'm sorry about the other day."

Kara frowned and turned to her.

"What do you mean?"

"When I sedated you? Don't you remember? You woke up and you were confused and trying to fly to Ireland because you had a dream about Lena being in danger?" Alex explained. Maybe she shouldn't have brought it up, since Kara clearly didn't remember.

"I—" Kara scratched her head, trying to remember, but only fuzzy bits came to mind. "I don't remember much, really, but I'm sure you did what you had to."

"Thank you." Alex felt relieved. She knew she had followed protocol, had done everything by the book and that Kara would not hold it against her, but…

"Did you have to use Kryptonite to keep me in check?" Kara refocused her attention on the alien shuttle.

Alex sighed heavily.

"Yes. You were too agitated, and you were certainly not fit to fly out of the DEO, much less to Ireland."

Kara nodded.

"Good. I trust you to always do the right thing when I'm not myself, Alex," Kara said softly. "Rao knows how much it scares me that I might hurt someone under the influence of something I can't control."

"We're all susceptible to that, Kara."

"True, but not everyone else has superpowers that could destroy a city in minutes."

"True." Alex mimicked her. "But many of us have access to weapons and equipment that could do just that - like me, and I trust you'll do the right thing if it ever comes to that."

Kara gave her sister a small smile. She was not going to win this fight, she knew.

"You're right. Thanks for trusting me."

Alex winked at her.

"Just don't ever try to stand in my way if Lena is in danger, Alex. Sedated or not, I'm going for her and I'm going to keep her safe." Kara went on, her eyes never leaving the alien shuttle. She could see the DEO teams getting in position.

Alex swallowed, the weight of her decision falling heavily on her conscience.

"If that ever happens, Kara, I'll take you there myself, if I have to carry you."

Kara gave her a satisfied smile.

"So, do you have any tips on that investigation?" she asked, desperate to talk about something else.

Kara looked at her, confused.

"Excuse me? What investigation?"

"The one you said you would do on the side, to help Maggie?"

Kara rolled her eyes.

"Alex, I may be fast, but not that fast. I've been basically out since we talked about this. I'll start tomorrow, I promise."

"You're right, sorry."

Kara gave her an understanding look.

"How is she handling it?"

Alex smirked at her sister as something on the screen of her tablet caught her attention.

"She's pissed."

Kara cringed at the word.

"Time to go, Supergirl, teams Alpha and Beta are in position." Alex touched her arm. "Don't barge in there, Kara."

"Yes, ma'am."

Kara smiled at her sister, glad to be doing something useful. Sleep was slowly creeping up on her again and she was sure she would fall asleep standing up if they'd taken a few minutes longer.

She really just wanted to go home and sleep, with Lena wrapped around her.

 **##**

The aliens were not in the mood to surrender, but more in a mood to fight to the death, with a concealed weapon that was able to stun Supergirl long enough for them to start a shooting that ended with several casualties on their side. Supergirl managed to cripple the rogues after destroying their secret weapon with her heat vision, but still they fought and refused to surrender. It took her far longer than she wanted, but she managed to disarm them all without any more casualties.

Exhausted, she flew to Lena's office much later than she was supposed to, but the fact that the lights were still on, meant Lena was still waiting for her.

"Good girl," she mumbled to herself when she realized Lena had the balcony door locked and tapped lightly on the glass.

Lena looked up from her laptop and gave her a bright smile as she unlocked the door to let her in.

"As promised," she said, her smile turning cheeky.

Kara chuckled and pulled her into a hungry kiss.

"If this is my reward, I'll have to be a good girl more often," Lena said breathlessly when they broke of the kiss.

Kara laughed quietly and rested her head on her shoulder.

"You're always a good girl in my book," she said softly.

"Charmer," Lena replied, pulling her inside by the hand. "What do you have there?"

"Dinner," Kara replied, setting the bag with takeout on the coffee table, and gave her a reproachful look. "I'm sure you skipped anyway."

Lena laughed easily and helped her set the table.

"So, did you handle the alien threat?" Lena asked, sitting down in front of Kara, while covertly checking her for visible injuries.

Kara nodded and told her about her mission, how it almost went wrong.

"Why would they do that?"

"Well, we don't know a thing about them," Lena said. "In many cultures, it's considered a great dishonor to get caught instead of fighting to the death, like a true warrior."

"That's stupid…" Kara mumbled, her crinkle becoming pronounced.

"To us, maybe it is, but to them, this could be everything that they know and believe in, what makes sense to them." Lena took a bite of her food. "Just think about it: they tried to invade the planet and we fought them off, but these were left behind. They don't know what to expect from us, so it's probably safer to assume the worst. If what they're facing is certain imprisonment, probable slavery, or even dishonorable death, then it's only natural they would make a last stand. How many of them fought you off until you had them all subdued?"

Kara didn't look up from her food, playing with it.

"All of them."

"There you go."

"But we're not going to turn them into slaves. We're trying to capture them to send them back home." Kara argued, her lips pursed. She was losing her appetite, which was never a good sign.

"We don't know if they know that. Probably, all they know is they're being hunted and captured and taken somewhere unknown, and they have no idea of what's going on," Lena said, watching Kara carefully. "It could also be that they do know what's going on but are afraid of going home. If they live in a society that lives by the warrior's code, how are they going to explain that they fled the ship on its final stand? They could face a punishment far worse than death."

Kara was silent. This warrior code of fighting to death instead of getting caught was not something she would ever understand.

"I don't think I'll ever understand that," she admitted.

"Good," Lena replied immediately.

Kara frowned.

"Why good?"

"Because if we're ever faced with a similar situation, it means you will never turn into a crazy kamikaze and will always find a way to stay alive long enough for me to find you and bring you back home." Lena answered truthfully, her eyes serious.

"Will you? Always find me?"

Lena touched her face lovingly, her eyes full of emotion.

"I will move heaven and earth and leave no rock unturned until I find you, Kara," she answered. "So, you better keep out of trouble before the Luthor name becomes infamous outside of this planet."

Kara chuckled and kissed her hand, blinking sleepily.

"I l—" Kara stopped herself, biting her lip, her courage failing her. "Thank you."

Lena's smile faltered. She wanted to tell her more, so much more, but she couldn't, not yet.

"Here, let me show you something I've been working on. I think you'll like it."

Lena set her food aside and hurried to her folder cabinet, rummaging inside.

"Ah!" she cried triumphantly when she found what she was looking for and turned around to show Kara the folder. "I've been working on a way to listen to your heart—" Lena interrupted herself when she faced her girlfriend and realized she had fallen asleep, while still holding onto her container of Chinese food in one hand and chopsticks in the other, "—beat."

Lena shook her head and put the folder back in its place.

"What am I going to do with you, sweetie? You can't go on like this. You're going to end up getting seriously hurt."

Lena took away the food from her hands, then proceeded to take off her boots and unclasp her cape. When she had the blanket close by, Lena spoke softly in her ear, managing to get Kara to lie down on the couch, all the while mumbling sleepy protests endearingly.

Kara immediately snuggled close to her when she felt her lie down as well, placing her hand over her heart. It was endearing how Kara always found her heartbeat, even when in deep slumber.

"Sleep well, my sweet."

Lena kissed her forehead and allowed herself to drift off, glad the holidays were just around the corner and that she could take Kara away from National City for a few days.

 **##**

A few days later, Maggie and Lena were on their way to Midvale, to spend their first Christmas with the Danvers family and Lena was a nervous wreck, though she was trying her best to conceal it.

"Honey?"

Lena turned her head as she left the car and shot Kara a smile.

"Yes?"

"You're fidgeting." Kara pointed out softly.

"No, I'm not." Lena stopped her hands immediately and schooled her features.

Kara stepped closer to and took her chilly hands into her own, rubbing her thumbs in gentle circles over the chilly skin

"Yes, you are, and you don't fidget, so, want to tell me what's going on?"

Lena looked behind her shoulder at the opening door and swallowed as Alex was engulfed in a bear hug by her mother, followed by Maggie.

"I—"

"Are you afraid of Eliza?" Kara asked, her eyes worried.

"No, I—I…" Lena sighed and looked down at their joined hands. "I'm a little nervous."

"Lena…"

"What if she doesn't like me, Kara? She knows your cousin, she's heard of my brother." Lena licked her suddenly dry lips. "What if she thinks I'm not good enough for you, that I'm crazy like him."

"That's not going to happen, Lena," Kara reassured her, trying to look into her eyes.

"You can't know that. You can—"

"—But I can." Kara gave her a warm, reassuring smile. "Because I've told her so much about you, so much about how good you are to me, how brave and smart and beautiful you are, I'm afraid she might want to date you and steal you away from me."

That forced a laugh out of Lena, and she leaned against Kara's warm body, seeking reassurance. Why was she always this insecure when it came to Kara's friends and family? It was never like this before, with anyone.

Kara smiled and pulled her into her arms, one hand on the back of her head, scratching lightly.

"Maybe we should head back now before she has a chance to meet you and fall for you," Kara whispered in her ear, watching as Eliza slowly made their way towards them, "just like I did."

Lena's eyes widened at the softly spoken words and she extracted herself from Kara's arms, her eyes full of wonder and emotion, but before she could say anything, a calm voice sounded from behind them.

"Kara, dear, aren't you going to introduce us?"

Kara smiled brightly at her adoptive mother, trusting the always compassionate Eliza Danvers to make Lena comfortable and at home.

"Lena, this is Eliza Danvers, my adoptive mother." Kara turned to Eliza, "Eliza, this is Lena Luthor, my girlfriend."

Lena put out her hand for a polite handshake but was surprised by the arms that wrapped affectionately around her.

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Lena. My daughter tells me so much about you, I had already decided to travel to National City to meet you in person if she didn't bring you home." Eliza pulled away and touched her face lovingly, easily reading the conflicting emotion in those vivid green eyes. "And her description of your beauty was spot on."

Lena blushed furiously but managed to stutter her thanks.

"It's nice to meet you too," she finally managed to say.

Eliza smiled and focused on her daughter, giving the obviously frustrated young woman some much-needed time to recover.

"Hello, dear," Eliza said with a smile, hugging Kara tenderly.

"Hello, Eliza." Kara smiled back. To this day, she was never able to call Eliza mom, but she did love her, not only for everything she ever did for her, but because she knew Eliza did love her like she did Alex. And she always gave great hugs.

Eliza pulled away from her and eyed her carefully.

"Kara Zor-El Danvers, what's going on?" she narrowed her eyes at her youngest daughter.

Kara stared at her, flabbergasted, her mouth opening a few times to speak but nothing came out.

"We will talk about this later," Eliza told her, a no-nonsense expression on her face.

Kara swallowed and touched her glasses nervously.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good." Eliza nodded, satisfied, and smiled at them as if nothing happened. "Come inside, then, it's chilly out here."

She started walking towards the house, fully expecting them to follow her.

Lena entwined her hand with Kara's.

"She's nice," Lena said quietly, still surprised with Eliza's welcome. "At least now I know where you get the hugging part from."

Kara chuckled forcing herself to forget about the fact that her adoptive mother would soon ask questions she didn't want to answer; that she didn't know how to answer.

"It was all so hard for me when I landed here and… I had to learn everything, the language, the rules, the culture and even the basic things I knew since I can remember, like how to walk instead of floating or opening a hole in the ground, how to hug someone without crushing their bones…" Kara kept her eyes down, her voice tinged with wistfulness. "That was the hardest for me because I always loved hugs. My mom and my aunt used to hug me all the time and… I needed a hug so desperately and, one night, she came to my room, Alex was already asleep, and she just put her arms around me… It felt sooo good, Lena, so good. After that, she would stop by my room every night to practice hugs and then Alex joined us and… well, we do love hugging."

Lena gave her a sweet smile. She loved when Kara shared stories about her past, here, on Earth, and in Krypton. Every story was a piece of the delicious puzzle that was Kara Danvers.

"I especially loved the part she called you Kara Zor-El Danvers, in that motherly tone that means you're in trouble."

Kara groaned, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

Lena chuckled wickedly. She might have fun this Christmas after all, and that would be a first. One of many 'firsts' since she met Kara Danvers.

 **##**

Lena watched as her girlfriend bickered with her sister, while they both helped their mother put everything away after a merry dinner.

They had spent the rest of the afternoon helping with the Christmas decorations, which was something she had done before. The servants always decorated at the Luthor household, under the instructions of some famous designer, her mother insisted on having every year, with the kids kept away from the mansion until everything was done.

Christmas decorations at the Luthor's were made to impress guests and make it to magazine covers, not to fulfill children's dreams.

And only now could she truly understand the impact of what she had missed all these years, the fun, and the bonding she had never experienced. She couldn't turn back time, but now, she finally had a chance to learn what Christmas was all about.

Now, she was sitting at the table, together with Maggie, both enjoying a glass of merlot after Eliza sweetly kicked them out of the kitchen.

 _"There's plenty of time for you girls to help out tomorrow, but tonight, we'll take care of this."_

Kara had insisted in doing everything, with her superspeed it wouldn't take any time at all, and Alex agreed vehemently, but Eliza was adamant: no superspeed when cleaning up after a meal. It was their time to bond as mother and daughters.

"It makes you think, doesn't it?" Maggie asked quietly.

Lena looked at her, a smile still playing her lips from Kara's blithe reply to some needling from Alex. Kara was adorable and watching her so relaxed only made her fall even more in love with her.

"Mm? Think about what?"

"This." Maggie's hand swept around them. "I know I've had a shitty childhood and my adolescence was even worse, and I can't imagine your mother was ever the loving kind."

Lena rolled her eyes.

"We were the perfectly loving family for magazine covers. Once the photographer was out the door, we would all go our separate ways. This," Lena pointed out to the women in the kitchen. "was for those poor, clueless souls with feelings and no money or power."

Maggie nodded in wry understanding.

"I get it. We had no money or power, but having feelings was like the ultimate sin, especially if those feelings were directed at people from the same gender."

Lena snorted.

"My mother couldn't care less about that, as long the other person was filthy rich and influential."

Maggie sipped on her wine, her eyes lost in thought.

"It kinda makes you think," Maggie repeated, "how did we end up here, surrounded by love and warmth and people who really care about us?"

Lena quirked an eyebrow at that.

"That is a damn good question, detective, one that I'm afraid to ask most of the time, because I'm scared the answer might be that there was a mistake, that she's not for me, that none of this is for me; that it's just the universe having a laugh at my expense."

Maggie nodded her agreement and sipped some more wine.

"You know what, Luthor, what if we do deserve this?"

Lena raised her eyebrow at being called by her last name. It always bothered her, but somehow, with Alex and Maggie it was almost full of fondness

"What if we do deserve those beautiful, wonderful women in our lives? What if they were meant for us all along? Are we going to hide from it? Give into our fears?"

"It's certainly easier to do that. We hide behind our fears and protect ourselves. It's an effective way to avoid getting hurt."

Kara chose that moment to look up at her, her eyes so full of affection, Lena's heart skipped several beats.

"I don't want to hide anymore, Maggie. I want to live with her, for her. I've earned it," Lena confessed, her voice so quiet it was almost a whisper, "and so has she."

Maggie smiled and toasted her with her glass.

"We've earned it."

"We did." Lena's eyes were still locked with Kara's, who was now shyly biting her lip. "We sure did."

 **##**

"Better now?" Kara snuggled under the covers, pleased. Everything was going perfectly. She had managed to stay awake the whole time, Eliza loved Lena and Lena was relaxed – just perfect.

"Much. Thank you for taking me into your home and showing me what's it like to have a real Christmas, with a real family." Lena supported her head on her hand, gently combing Kara's hair with her fingers, watching her eyes blink sleepily.

"If it depends on me, Lena, you'll never have to wonder again," Kara said truthfully.

"You are so beautiful, Kara Danvers, and I'm so lucky to have found you."

Kara blushed predictably.

"You're not so bad yourself," Kara said with a shy smile.

Lena grinned and leaned down to kiss her.

Kara grabbed a fistful of her t-shirt and pulled her down, needing her closer.

"I love you," Kara whispered against her lips, her heart hammering in her chest with the emotion of her admission.

Lena inhaled sharply, tears filling her eyes instantly.

"Do you?"

"I do. Very, very much…"

"I love you too," Lena whispered back, kissing her reverently, as tears fell. "I love you," she repeated, deepening the kiss until Kara let out a throaty moan.

"Lee…" Kara rasped out her half-opened, sleepy eyes darkening with desire, her breathing slightly off.

"I know, sweetheart…" Lena rested her forehead against Kara's, tears still glistening in her eyes. "I know."

She kissed her lips one more time before resuming her previous spot. Kara was obviously making a tremendous effort to stay awake.

"Sorry…" Kara mumbled.

"It's all right. Bedtime for superheroes," she whispered, in her ear.

Kara nodded and snuggled in her favorite spot, pressed against Lena, with her head over her heart and an arm around her torso.

"Sweet dreams."

Kara whispered something that might have been 'you too' but Lena wasn't sure. She wasn't even sure if she would sleep at all. Kara Zor-El loved her. Supergirl was in love with her, Lena Luthor.

She was in awe.

 **##**

Lena practically had to drag a very sleepy and grumpy Kryptonian out of bed, before Eliza started asking more questions. It wasn't like Kara to sleep in.

Alex knocked on their bedroom door around nine o'clock, to make sure everything was all right and tell them that Eliza was starting to ask questions about Kara, so they planned a trail to drag sleepyhead out of bed.

The trail turned out to be another brand-new and fun experience for Lena, with Kara and Alex goofing around like they were still teenagers, delighting their girlfriends with stories of their adolescence.

When they returned home, Kara looked so full of energy and had that happy glint again in her eyes, the one that had been sorely missing for the past months.

So, it really was a surprise when, after lunch, Lena met Kara in the kitchen to help her bring coffee and cookies to the porch, only to find her next to the coffee pot, waiting for the water to boil, her eyes closing dangerously while she was still standing up, arms crossed over her chest.

"Love?" God, it felt so good to say that.

Kara stirred with a start and cleared her throat.

"Sorry, I was just, hum…"

"…resting your eyes for a while?" Lena supplied with a smile, rubbing her arms tenderly.

Kara chuckled, dropping her head, embarrassed.

"Something like that, yes."

"It's my fault, I should've let you sleep longer this morning, but your mom…"

"You did the right thing, Lena," Kara interrupted with a smile and rubbed her eyes.

She was so tired of this, of being sleepy all the time but not being able to get enough sleep; of not being able to shake off the nightmares.

"She will try to talk to me about it, I know her, but I just don't feel like it."

"I know, but maybe talking to her will help." Lena kept rubbing her arms in a slow, gentle motion. "Will you at least consider it?"

Kara nodded and focused her attention on the coffee pot, clearly ending that subject.

"Why don't you go upstairs and take a little nap?" Lena had to try, even if she knew Kara would refuse.

"No! I'm not going upstairs to sleep when everyone's outside and having fun and…"

"All right, sweetheart, I won't push you." Lena gave her a peck on the lips. "You can finish making the coffee and I'll get the cookies, if you point me to the right cabinet."

Kara gave her a bright smile and nodded. She never noticed Lena taking out her phone to text Alex and make sure only the hammock would be available for Kara, so when they reached the porch, Lena made a beeline to sit right next to Eliza, close enough to hammock.

Kara gave her a suspicious look, but Lena just smiled at her and took hold of her hand once Kara made herself comfortable, stroking her thumb across the soft skin of Kara's hand.

Alex was resting comfortably against Maggie's chest, watching closely as Lena Luthor expertly handled her grumpy sister without saying a word. She had a feeling Lena had since long cracked the 'Kara code' and would soon be giving her tips about how to handle her sometimes stubborn and impulsive sister. That made her smile. It felt good to know that someone else cared for Kara so deeply they were willing to go the extra mile just to make her smile.

She watched as Lena slowly started to rock the hammock, all the while keeping her focus on her conversation with her mother about the latest articles in biotechnology, a subject that had her always calm and composed mother chattering enthusiastically.

She heard as a half-asleep Kara grumbled about Lena making her sleepy, but Lena just kissed her hand and kept talking to Eliza, and it wasn't long before Kara fell into a deep sleep.

A beep from her phone caught her attention and she opened her email, tensing as she read the subject.

"Alex?" Maggie looked down at her, a frown on her face. "Something wrong?"

"I—I need to talk to Lena," Alex whispered, her eyes on her sleeping sister. "Be right back."

Alex patted her arm and walked to the hammock, covering Kara with a wool blanket. Not that she ever felt cold, but it gave her comfort.

Kara snuggled with a content sigh, her face relaxed in slumber.

Lena looked up at her and gave her a warm smile that vanished the moment Alex mouthed they needed to talk. Lena slowly let go of Kara's hand, waiting a moment to make sure she wouldn't stir and then followed her inside, very aware of Eliza's concerned eyes on them.

Alex led her to a cozy looking basement and opened the lights as they walked inside.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

Alex closed the door and sighed.

"We don't have to whisper here. My father had these walls coated with lead paint so that Kara had a place to rest when she experienced sensory overload. She can't hear us."

Lena looked alarmed at this.

"Alex, she'll se—"

"—I know, that's why we have to make it fast."

"What's going on?" Lena's gut was starting to twitch, and that was never a good sign.

"We have a problem." Alex unlocked her phone and showed her the email, watching carefully as Lena's face darkened and tensed.

"Bollocks," Lena cursed under her breath, starting to pace, a hand covering her eyes.

Alex raised both eyebrows in surprise. She had never heard Lena curse before.

"I'll make some phone calls. I still have good contacts in Ireland. Someone is bound to know something."

Alex stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, a concerned look in her face.

"Lena, what the hell happened out there?"

Lena stopped, the hand still covering her eyes trembling slightly.

"They found out the location of my secret office and I… I had a mole in my team." Lena kept her voice steady, but Alex could hear the slight tremble. "I'll send you my report after the holidays, with details."

Alex pursed her lips and pulled her into a hug. Lena was still shaken, and she needed to talk - and she would, but after she read her report and prepared her approach.

Lena tensed for a moment, not expecting the hug, but finally allowed herself a much-needed moment of comfort.

"We will talk about this, Lena," Alex told her.

Lena chose not to reply.

"Thank you for pulling me out of there so fast."

Alex rubbed her back gently.

"That's what friends are for," Alex replied and Lena almost, almost lost control and cried.

"We better go back before Kara realizes we're missing and panics." Lena pulled away, not ready to handle all the emotion she was feeling right now.

Alex sighed, frustrated: she still had no answers.

 **##**

Kara opened her eyes, blinking sleepily as she looked around, realizing it was late afternoon. She was still at Eliza's porch and Maggie was there too, slumped on the rocking chair, her breathing deep, but they were alone, Eliza and their girlfriends nowhere to be found.

Kara frowned and looked around again, sitting on the hammock, sleep still heavy on her mind. Where could they be? She closed her eyes, tuning in their heartbeats and heard them loud and clear. With a sigh of relief, Kara used her x-ray vision to see them leaving the kitchen together, with trays.

She was being needy and silly. Of course Lena would be close by, and she couldn't force the woman to stay close to her every time she fell asleep. Lena had a life and a company to run, she couldn't leave everything behind every time she felt vulnerable, but she did feel so much better when Lena was around her, and it was such a nice feeling.

"Hey, you're up!" Lena's cheerful voice interrupted her thoughts.

Kara gave her a smile, feeling utterly cared for when Lena wrapped her arms around her shoulders, her chin resting on top of her head.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Lena asked softly.

Kara shook her head against her chest, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"No, I just missed you," she answered truthfully.

"Charmer." Lena kissed the top of her head.

Kara smiled and look up at her, adoringly.

"It's true."

Lena touched her face, tracing the angles of her face with her fingertips, her eyes full of love and tinged with that weariness that always told Kara she was hiding something, no matter how hard she tried to disguise it. It was half perceived, and half felt, and she couldn't quite explain it, she just knew it.

"I think we forgot the butter cookies."

Kara heard Alex grumble and spared her a glance, noticing how her sister's shoulders were tense, despite her relaxed stance.

"I'll get them," Kara said, getting up from the hammock.

Alex quirked an eyebrow at her, but Kara just smiled and pecked Lena on the lips.

"Don't let her steal my seat." Kara pointed out to Alex, accusingly.

Alex rolled her eyes and Lena chuckled, sitting down on the hammock.

"How's that?"

Kara grinned and winked.

"Perfect."

Alex kept her eyes trained on her sister's back but kept quiet. Something about Kara's demeanor was off, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it.

 **##**

Kara was leaning against the kitchen counter, arms crossed over her chest, a pensive expression on her face.

She had no idea what Lena was hiding from her, but she was sure it had something to do with her trip to Ireland. Maybe whatever was her secret, was the reason it had taken her longer to come back. And by now, she was pretty sure that Alex was involved, and if Alex was involved, then the DEO was involved, and that could only mean that, at some point, Lena's life had been in danger, and she had been kept in the dark.

Why were they keeping secrets from her? She hated that.

"Kara?"

Kara blinked and stared at Eliza, who was looking back at her, concerned.

"Is everything all right? You were grumbling."

Kara forced a smile.

"Yes, everything's peachy. I—hum just came to get the butter cookies."

Eliza raised a motherly eyebrow at her.

"And why were you leaning against the counter, looking like you were miles away from here."

Kara fumbled with her glasses, blushing.

"I got distracted."

"I see." Eliza nodded in understanding. "Did you get distracted with the reason that's keeping you from sleeping?"

Kara almost choked at her adopted mother's bluntness.

"I—I just have a lot going on, that's all. Work and Supergirl…"

"Kara, we don't share blood, but that doesn't mean I don't know when one of my daughter's is hiding something from me." Eliza admonished her quietly.

Kara dropped her eyes, properly chastised.

"I'd rather not talk about it, please."

Eliza sighed, clearly unhappy.

"All right, but remember, I'll always be available for you, whenever you need me."

Kara nodded, her head down.

"I know."

"Good." Eliza pulled her into a hug. "And you should know better than to try and hide things from me. A mother always knows."

Kara smiled sadly.

"I know."

Eliza patted her back and pulled away with a smile.

"C'mon, lets go outside before your sister thinks you ate all the cookies."

Kara snorted.

"I would never do that!"

Eliza put her arm around Kara as they walked outside.

"Yes, you would."

"It happened one time!"

Eliza chuckled.

"And she will never let you forget it."

Kara rolled her eyes.

"What took you so long?" Alex asked as soon as she spotted Kara and their mother. "Did you eat all the cookies again?" Alex stared at their mother. "Mom?"

Eliza just shrugged her shoulders.

"Here, they're all there." Kara gave her the jar. "It hurts me that you think I would ever do that to you."

Alex snorted.

"Yeah, right. That didn't stop you last time." Alex took the jar from her and sat down close to Maggie.

"Alex, that was 5 years ago, and I was hungry!"

"You're always hungry, Kara."

Kara turned to Lena, pleading in her eyes.

"Are you going to let her get away with this?"

Lena raised both hands and smirked at her.

"Sorry, love, but you're on your own. I will not step into a sisterly feud, no matter how adorable that pout is."

"Smart move, Luthor," Maggie quipped.

"I'm a Luthor and a CEO. I should know by now which battles to pick."

Alex cackled at her sister's outraged face.

Kara huffed, but relaxed next to Lena, resting her head on her shoulder. Lena smiled and kissed her head, intertwining their fingers.

Kara let out a satisfied sigh, closing her eyes. Sleep was creeping up on her again and the sounds around her quickly started to fade in the background, except for the wonderful sound of Lena's heartbeat and the little voice inside her head reminding her Lena was hiding something from her, and she had to find out what.

###


	5. Chapter 5

Note: this is the 2nd part of Hugs, Comfort & Blankies and follows up Comfort Me

Disclaimer: TV/Comics/Books characters do not belong to me. I write for fun and the only thing I get from this is lots of more fun. There might be some TV/Comics/Books Canon, but it's mostly for background's sake. There might also be characters that are not TV/Comics/Books related – those are mine.

* * *

Note:

That's a wrap, folks!

Here's the last chapter. Really hope you like it. Thank you so much for all your kind comments and don't forget to let me know what you think.

Stay tuned for the next installment in this series.

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

It was late. Lena peeked at the clock on the screen of her laptop - very late.

The TV was playing in the background, footage of Supergirl helping with a massive fire in a building, playing repeatedly. The fire had been reported as extinguished one hour ago, with several injured but no casualties, thanks to Supergirl's timely intervention, but the alien was nowhere to be found. Could she be working on something else? Had she forgotten they would stay at Lena's tonight?

Lena drummed her fingers on the laptop, staring at her phone, apprehensively. She could call Alex, but unless there was an alien behind the fire, Alex would be home, asleep.

A noise coming from the balcony caught her attention and she turned around in the couch, to look behind her: Supergirl stepped inside, her shoulders sagged and covered in soot, grime and other things Lena couldn't really identify.

"Hey sweetie," Lena greeted her with a smile that faltered once her nose detected the acrid smell that clung to her girlfriend's body. "What's that smell?"

"The building had a chemical lab." Kara sniffed her arm and made a disgusted face. "I have no idea what it is, but it's giving me a headache…"

Lena nodded, understanding. If the stench was intense for herself, it should be killing Kara.

"Honey, if there was a lab there, there could be dangerous substances on your body. You should go to—"

"—Alex already forced me to go through a decontamination shower and a myriad of tests. Nothing came up," Kara answered quietly, looking more and more dejected to Lena's watchful eyes.

"Why don't you go take a shower while I heat up dinner for you?" Lena wanted so badly to hug her, but the stench was too intense, and it was making her eyes water.

"I'm not hungry…" Kara mumbled.

"Honey," Lena started but Kara just mumbled something about the shower and left for the bathroom.

Lena stared at her retreating back, alarmed. Still frowning, she picked up her phone and texted Alex.

 **Lena Luthor 03:34:** What happened?

Lena glanced at her fridge and decided to heat up a plate of the macaroni she cooked for dinner, hoping that the smell of warm, homemade Italian food made Kara hungry.

 **Alex Danvers 03:36:** A fire in a lab. Nothing much, but she stinks.

Lena rolled her eyes at her friend's answer.

 **Lena Luthor 03:37:** No kidding? I sent her to the shower already.

 **Alex Danvers 03:37:** LOL I'm sure she's going to need more than one, but don't worry, we tested her and everything's fine.

 **Lena Luthor 03:39:** Right, but she doesn't seem fine to me. Can I take a look at the report?

Lena set the steaming plate on the coffee table by the couch, a large cup of hot chocolate next to it, blanky already on the arm rest.

 **Alex Danvers 03:42:** Already on your email. She did look kinda off when she got here, but she wouldn't talk about it.

 **Lena Luthor 03:43:** Thanks.

Lena opened her email and read the preliminary report from the fire department. There was nothing extraordinary to it, except for the end note, that reported the top floors of the ten-story building, the ones closer to the lab, blowing up.

Lena's lips pressed in a thin line. She was sure that was the problem. The sound of shuffling feet reached her ears and she put her phone away, giving Kara a warm smile.

"Lena, I'm not hungry," Kara said, rubbing her temple tiredly, her eyes half closed.

"I know, but there's not much there," Lena said, purposely ignoring the huge plate. It really wasn't much for Kara. After a strenuous night, like this one, she would have at least four more of those. "Just humor me, please. I really don't want you to go to bed on an empty stomach – you need to keep up your energy. What if you have to leave again?"

Kara sighed and sat down by her side, defeated by her girlfriend's logic.

Lena smirked at her and made a show of sniffing her thoroughly, making her giggle involuntary as she pressed her nose behind her ear.

"Lena!" Kara squeaked. "What are you doing?"

"Sniffing you, of course," Lena replied blithely. "I realize it's very unladylike, but we are sharing a bed tonight and I have to make sure you don't need another shower."

Kara chuckled, feeling better already.

"I'm sure it's all gone after three superfast showers," Kara said, squeaking again as Lena's nose hit another sensitive spot. "Lena!"

But Lena never relented, instead moving closer and closer to Kara's mouth to kiss her slowly, while gently pushing her down on the couch. Shifting so she was lying completely on top of the alien, Lena gently cupped her face, drawing out a low moan.

"I love you," Lena whispered, nuzzling her cheek. She knew Kara basked in the intimacy of such tender gestures, having discovered Kara's very romantic streak shortly after they started dating. She also knew it had a relaxing effect on the blonde.

"I love you too…" Kara whispered back, her hand wrapping behind Lena's head, her fingers tangling in her dark hair.

Lena searched for Kara's free hand, entwining their fingers above the blonde's head, her lips searching Kara's once more, to delight themselves on a long and languid kiss, that left them both breathless and flushed before Lena forced herself to stop, their conversation from days before still fresh in her mind.

 _Lena watched as Kara nestled under the covers. It was still Christmas day and they had all exchanged presents in Eliza's cozy living room just moments before. That had been a first too. Not the exchange of presents, but the selflessness and thoughtfulness of it all. All gifts had been mindful of the person's tastes or needs. She had given Kara a messenger bag she knew she had been lusting for, the look on the blonde's face telling her that she'd made the right choice. That was a first too._

 _Her father was never around on Christmas day and Lillian was always distasteful of whatever she chose for her, and Lex, Lex never really cared about any of it, but with this Danvers clan, everything was different. Everything was carefree and thoughtful and from the heart. She had never experienced that before, and God, now she knew how much she really craved it._

 _A smile came to her lips as she recalled Kara's present to her, an alien interactive puzzle, with mathematical and scientific probabilities that would keep her inquisitive mind occupied for a long while._

" _What's that incredible smile for?" Kara asked softly, a content smile shaping her lips._

" _Just thinking of your present." Lena grasped her hand and kissed it reverently. "Where did you find it?"_

 _Kara grinned._

" _That would be telling, miss Luthor."_

 _Lena chuckled at her suddenly secretive girlfriend._

" _Well, I have one more for you," Lena said going for her bag._

" _Lena, I thought we agreed on one present each." Kara complained, already sitting in bed, unable to hide her excitement._

 _Eliza had explained how much Kara loved Christmas, because they had nothing like it on Krypton. Kara had even believed Santa to be real for a while and was utterly disappointed when she found out the truth, but she still firmly believed in the magic of Christmas._

" _I know, but, if it makes you feel better, it wasn't planned as a Christmas present. It's just something I've been working on and I finished sooner than I thought I would." Lena padded back to bed, a small wrapped case in her hand._

 _With a shy smile, Lena gave her the case, carefully gauging her reaction._

 _Kara smiled back and unwrapped the present, quickly opening the case. She looked up, her excited smile turning confused._

" _It's… hum… a new pair of glasses," Kara smiled at Lena. "Thanks! Rao knows I break enough of those."_

 _Lena laughed quietly and took the glasses from her hand._

" _What's so funny?" Kara frowned._

" _Sweetheart, I'm a scientist, an engineer and an inventor. Do you really think I would give you just another pair of glasses?" Lena asked, allowing her natural accent to slip freely, wanting to see the look on Kara's face._

 _Kara's eyes widened and she swallowed, her cheeks flushing slightly._

" _I—"_

 _Lena silenced her with a gentle kiss._

" _These are special," she mumbled against her lips, her Irish accent still very much present._

 _Kara breathed erratically, her eyes fluttering closed._

" _They are?" She mumbled back._

 _Lena nodded and shifted, so she could place the glasses on her girlfriend's face._

 _Kara opened her eyes and adjusted the glasses out of habit._

" _They don't feel different."_

" _They're not supposed to." Lena touched her face with a smile. "I tweaked the stems."_

" _Oh?" Kara frowned, still confused._

" _Here, let me show you." Lena reached out to the stem on the right side. "Long press once here and it will activate your location."_

 _She demonstrated and an alarm went off on her phone, a map filling in the screen, with their location pinned._

" _Cool!" Kara grinned at her._

" _I'll have it installed in Alex's phone as well and at the DEO's." Lena turned off the alarm and then pressed the stem again. "Press twice—" her phone went off again, a red bold SOS flashing on the screen, over the symbol of the house of EL. "—and it emits a distress signal, that will also send your coordinates."_

 _Kara blinked at her, impressed._

" _And, finally," Lena moved her hand to the stem on the left side, biting her lip timidly, "whenever you're feeling stressed or overwhelmed, just long press here."_

 _Lena demonstrated and waited._

 _Kara blinked once, her lips moving, but no words came out. Her eyes filled with tears, staring almost uncomprehending at Lena._

" _I—It's your heartbeat…" she whispered, incredulous._

 _Lena nodded, hesitant._

" _I want you to have a way of grounding yourself when I'm not around," she said softly._

 _Kara threw herself in her arms, successfully knocking them both down on the mattress, and cried silently, head buried in her neck._

" _Thank you…" she finally rasped, when she calmed down. "That's the most amazing gift I ever had."_

 _Lena smiled, relieved. She was afraid she was overstepping, that she was overconfident of her importance in Kara's life, but, it seemed, she had yet again made the right call._

 _Lena cupped her face and cleaned her tears with her thumbs._

" _Can I have a kiss?" she asked with a smile._

 _Kara gazed at her, adoringly._

" _You can have anything you want," she whispered, kissing her softly._

" _That… could be dangerous…" Lena mumbled between kisses, one hand wandering down the length of Kara's torso. "Very dangerous…"_

 _Kara moaned into her mouth as Lena's hand sneaked under her shirt, nimble fingers tracing light patterns on her flawless, soft skin, leaving fire in their awake._

 _Lena somehow got enough leverage to flip them over, eliciting a surprised yelp from the Kryptonian, giving her a sly grin._

" _Always be on your toes when around a Luthor, Supergirl," she instructed softly before going for those swollen lips again, not giving Kara a chance to reply._

 _Lena positioned herself on top of her, her leg slipping between Kara's, effectively pinning her down. She knew it was only a semblance of control, that Kara could easily push her away whenever she felt like, but she enjoyed that Kara let her play her little game of power. She actually suspected that Kara enjoyed it a lot more than she did._

 _Lena's hands resumed their exploration of the warm skin under the shirt, steely muscles taunt at her touch. It wasn't long before Kara was pressing herself against her leg, her breathing ragged, low moans escaping her lips._

 _Lena grew bolder and grazed a perky breast with light feather touches, a throaty moan escaping Kara when she finally cupped a breast, her thumb gently caressing an erect nipple._

" _Lee…" Kara rasped, her breathing uneven._

" _Hmm?" Lena hummed, her tongue sneaking around Kara's hear and drawing a shuddering breath from the blonde, Kara's hands on her waist clenching almost painfully._

" _Please…"_

 _Lena smiled against her ear._

" _Tell me what you want," she whispered._

" _I—I need you to stop…"_

 _Lena pulled away immediately, a concerned frown on her face._

" _Honey, what's wrong? Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt you?"_

" _N—no, no, Lena, you did nothing wrong." Kara's face was flushed, and Lena wasn't sure if it was from their make out session or embarrassment. "It's just, I—I…"_

 _Understanding dawned on Lena and she felt like slapping herself._

" _You've never made love to a woman before?" she asked gently, her fingers lovingly stroking her face._

 _If possible, Kara's face became redder and she swallowed, not looking at Lena as she shook her head._

" _That's all right, sweetie, we all go through a first time," Lena said, keeping her voice low and soothing. It wasn't something unexpected. To her knowledge, Kara had only been with men, and… Her heart skipped a beat and her brain short circuited. "Kara, have you ever been with someone before?"_

 _Kara's lips pressed in a thin line, still not looking at her._

" _It's… complicated," she replied, hoarsely._

 _Lena waited for Kara to explain, but nothing came._

" _Please, tell me. I won't judge you, I just want to understand."_

 _Kara cleared her throat._

" _I've, hum… I've been with guys before, but…" her hand tried to adjust the glasses that weren't there. "I could never… you know…"_

" _Orgasm?"_

 _Kara nodded, her lips still pursed._

" _Why not?" she asked gently, her fingers never stopping. "Didn't you feel attracted to them?"_

" _I did," she replied, frowning "or I thought I did. I don't know."_

 _It was obvious that this was a matter that frustrated Kara._

" _You didn't feel comfortable with them?" she insisted, needing to understand._

" _I—" Kara sighed, fidgeting nervously with her thumbs and forefingers, her hands locked in fists. "I was afraid."_

 _Lena nodded. She needed Kara to understand that there was nothing wrong with that._

" _Sweetie, its normal to be afraid, especially if it's your first time."_

" _I was afraid I might hurt them when… you know," Kara finally admitted, her blush worsening. "If I lost control."_

" _Oh!" Lena blinked, not seeing that one coming._

 _Kara finally looked up at Lena, tears in her eyes._

" _I don't want to hurt you, Lena, ever, especially not for a moment of pleasure."_

" _Honey—"_

"— _No, Lena, I won't risk it." Kara looked up at her, earnestly. "I can learn, if you're willing to teach me, but I—"_

 _Lena stopped her with a finger on her lips._

" _Did you enjoy what we just did?"_

 _Kara nodded, shyly._

" _Did you want more?"_

 _Kara blushed once more but nodded bravely._

" _Good…" Lena brushed her lips over Kara's, her hand cupping her cheek. "Because we are going to make love, Kara Zor-El, and you won't hurt me."_

" _Lee…"_

" _We'll take it slow, Kara. We'll take as long as you need." Lena's lips pressed a little harder, just a little. "Do you trust me?"_

" _Yes," Kara whispered, her eyes full of fear and trust._

 _Lena deepened the kiss, allowing her hands to wander, knowing she couldn't go far, but needing to reassure her, to show her how good it felt – that it wasn't something to be feared._

" _Good, because I want to see you come undone with my touch."_

 _Kara swallowed, her heart skipping a beat._

"Now that I've greeted you properly, you need to eat," Lena said, gently nibbling on her lips.

Kara opened blue eyes, darkened with desire, her breathing still uneven.

"Just a little," Kara agreed, finally.

Lena gave her a bright smile and she couldn't help herself but smile back.

Kara's 'just a little' turned out to be a second large dose of the macaroni, and even that was far from her usual.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lena asked softly once they snuggled on the couch. She knew Kara was in a mood for 'couch and blankies' comfort. They would probably spend the night there.

Kara was silent for a while, just enjoying the feeling of Lena's fingers on her head and neck.

"There was an explosion at the building," she said quietly, "and it brought back memories."

Lena kissed the top of her head, wondering how much this would affect Kara's sleep. They had been sleeping together almost every day since her returned from Ireland, and Kara's sleep had improved considerably, but she knew Kara was still struggling with her inner demons and it would only be a matter of time before they manifested once more.

"How do you feel?"

"Sad…" Kara mumbled, snuggling closer, her hand curling around Lena's side. "Why are you still up?"

Lena sighed, frustrated. Kara was changing the subject and that was never good.

"Are you complaining?"

Kara chuckled, her eyes closing tiredly, relieved Lena wouldn't push her on this. Not now anyway. She knew Lena well enough to know she wouldn't let her off the hook.

"Not at all, but its late. You should be asleep."

Lena smiled.

"I was waiting for you," she admitted.

Kara peered sleepily at her.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to make sure that you're all right and that you eat before going to bed."

"That's really sweet." Kara closed her eyes again.

"Someone has to make sure you take care of yourself."

"You do it perfectly…"

Lena smiled at her sleepy superhero.

"Good to know."

"Are we going to bed?"

Lena peered at her, amused, already guessing her answer.

"Do you want to?"

"Comfy here…"

"Couch it is," Lena said softly.

"I can fly us to bed," Kara said, a mischievous, sleepy little smile on her lips.

Lena yelped as she felt herself float off the couch.

"Kara Danvers, put us down right now!"

Kara chuckled and lowered them to the couch again, her eyes never opening.

Lena shook her head at her mischievous girlfriend. Kara didn't show it often, but she had a very playful side that wasn't silly or awkward at all, it was full of mischief and humor and wit.

"You are such a troublemaker," Lena said with a smile, tweaking her ear playfully.

"I thought I was a bad influence," Kara yawned.

Lena gave her a fond look and turned off the lamp closer to the couch.

"A good 'bad' influence," she corrected quietly.

She felt as Kara's hand moved from her side to rest on her chest, close to her heart. It was a sleepy quirk that had started shortly after her return, something she started doing when she was seconds from falling asleep, almost as if having her ear over her chest wasn't enough.

"Sleep well, love." Lena pulled the blanket closer around them and closed her eyes as well, finally allowing sleep to take over.

"You too…" Kara mumbled almost imperceptibly.

Her mind was still racing with the events from earlier, images of the apartment exploding with Anna inside still burning in her mind, insidiously reminding her that she couldn't be everywhere, that she couldn't save everyone; that, despite all her powers, she, too, failed.

##

Lena woke up the next day to an empty and cold bed. Groggily sitting up, she looked around the room, a frown forming as she rubbed her face with the palm of her hand. Hadn't they fallen asleep on the couch?

"Kara?" she called out softly, knowing perfectly well Kara would hear her if she was in the apartment, but no answer came.

A sense of dread started churning in her gut.

Yawning, she went for her phone and found a note next to it. Picking up her glasses from the nightstand, she read the note, clearly written in Kara's neat handwriting.

 _Hey love,_

 _Hope you slept well. Sorry I left so early without telling, but you were having such a sound sleep, I couldn't bring myself to wake you. Don't worry, I didn't fly us to bed, I just carried you the old-fashioned way._

 _Clark texted me and asked for my assistance with an alien matter, so I'm flying to Metropolis._

 _Give me a call when you wake up._

 _Love you,_

 _Kara_

Lena smiled at the sweet note, but her frown returned quickly. Why was Superman sending for Kara? That meant nothing but trouble if he couldn't handle whatever was happening by himself, the churning in her gut worsening.

Picking up her phone, she speed-dialed Kara's number.

" _Hey, love,"_ Kara's smiling voice sounded through the phone and Lena's growing anxiety loosened some.

"Hey, you," Lena smiled. "You should've woken me up. I'm going to be hell on heels today because I missed my morning snuggle."

Kara laughed easily and Lena grinned. She loved her laughter.

" _No, you're not."_

"Yes, I am. You have no idea the amazing hero you are to all my employees, because you get to tame the evil queen before she leaves her lair every day," Lena said, still grinning. It was true, sort of. She had come to realize that spending quiet time with Kara before leaving for work, improved her humor immensely, and she was becoming irreversibly addicted to it.

" _You are such a nerd, Lena Luthor, but if you're an evil queen, then you're the most beautiful one I've ever seen, and I love you more than anything."_

Lena felt herself blush faintly, not because of the obvious compliment, but because of all the love she could hear in Kara's voice. God, how she wished she was here now, so she could lose herself in those wonderful lips.

"I love you too, Kara Zor-El," Lena whispered, and she could just imagine the happy smile on the Kryptonian's face.

Lena cleared her throat.

"Did you sleep at all?" Lena asked, already guessing the answer.

" _A few hours,"_ as if on cue, a yawn sounded through the phone. _"Clark texted me shortly after we fell asleep."_

Lena pursed her lips, unsure if she should voice her thoughts about Superman's late call. She knew that Kara worshiped her cousin. Why, she really had no idea, but that was uncharted territory she had no plans of exploring anytime soon.

"So, are you done then?"

" _Oh, huh… no, actually. Clark had to rush to the Daily Planet and I'm kinda just hanging out at his place, waiting for the alien to make his move."_

Lena could hear the hesitation in her voice.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?"

" _Nothing, it's just…"_ she sighed. _"It's silly."_

"Tell me," Lena pleaded softly, snuggling back under the covers to protect herself from January's chillier temperature.

Another sigh.

" _I don't get it why he called me,"_ she admitted. _"Not that I mind helping him out, of course not, it's just… It doesn't look like something that he can't handle by himself."_

Lena's churning returned with a vengeance.

"Why do you think he called you, then?"

" _I don't know. I—I'm just being silly."_

"Well, maybe he just wants to spend time with you." Lena offered, not quite convinced of it herself. Clark Kent was up to something and she had a gnawing feeling that it involved her.

" _Maybe,"_ Kara conceded. There was silence for a few seconds. _"He's heading back. I'll call you when I'm done."_

"All right, and Kara—"

"— _Always."_ Kara interrupted softly.

Lena smiled. "I love you."

" _I love you too."_

Lena exhaled, drumming her fingers on her phone. She was sure she wasn't going to get any work done until Kara called her back, so she might as well spend the day at the lab, working on her pet project, Kara's new suit. It was taking longer than she anticipated, but it was slowly coming to form.

Swinging her legs out of the bed, Lena padded to the bathroom to get ready. She just hoped whatever Clark Kent had in mind for Kara, didn't involve her and didn't upset her girlfriend.

##

Metropolis, Kent's Farm,

"Sorry I kept you waiting," Clark presented her with his sweet, boyish smile.

"That's ok. I was enjoying the peacefulness of your farm." Kara smiled back.

Well, that wasn't quite true. Staying here alone, with nothing to do but listen to the sound of silence and her shadowy thoughts was not a good combination, especially because she had barely slept and had to reluctantly pry herself from Lena's warm arms.

She had been sleeping better for the past two weeks, but it still wasn't enough. Her odd hours as Supergirl and the occasional nightmares that still assaulted her whenever she drifted away from Lena during sleep, still hindered her sleep recovery.

Clark chuckled.

"It's a little too peaceful at times."

Kara grinned shyly, lowering her head, silently admitting her boredom.

"So, this alien you told me about…"

"Yeah, its hum…" Clark scratched is head, very much like Kara did when she was embarrassed. Maybe it was a family trait. "J'onn sent me a file on the species. It's a Chutan, from planet Skree, and it's a very aggressive race. Very warlike."

"Okayyy…" Kara dragged out the word, watching him carefully, just like Alex taught her. He was definitely tense and hiding something. "Is he alone?"

"As far as I can tell, yes, but…" he cleared his throat.

"But?" she insisted, stepping closer to him. She never thought she would see the Man of Steel fidget while in is Superman suit, and she was beginning to worry. "What's going on, Kal-el? I highly doubt that this is something that you can't easily handle. You're not powerless, you just flew here."

Clark sighed and scratched his forehead. It really made him feel uncomfortable when Kara called him by his birth name. It just didn't resonate with him. He was Clark Kent, period, but he was weary of telling her that, because he knew how much Kara needed that last shred of connection to a past she still remembered.

"I—I wanted to talk to you," he finally admitted.

Kara frowned, her early feeling rearing its ugly head again.

"You could've just called, not text me in the middle of the night and make me rush down here." She wasn't happy about that. It really was hard to pry herself from Lena's side, but if Kal-el needed her, then she would be there for him.

He had the grace of looking embarrassed at that.

"You're right, I'm sorry." he pointed to the couch, silently inviting her to sit down. Lois's words that he was about to make a huge mistake resonated in his head briefly, but he dismissed it quickly, his mind made up. "But I haven't been able to sleep for the past two nights and I had to talk you without the risk of interruption."

Kara took a seat next to him, still frowning.

"What is it?"

Clark inhaled deeply, gathering is courage. He was the Man of Steel and older than her. Why was this being so hard?

"It's about you and Lena Luthor."

Kara was stunned. In all honesty, that was the last thing she was expecting. It had never even crossed her mind to talk to him about it.

"What about it?" she asked, her mind still trying to recover from the shock.

"You're… dating her."

Kara was sure the word 'dating' came out as a spat and she felt anger flicker inside her.

"You make it sound like it's a crime," she said, her voice carefully controlled. "What if we are dating?"

"Are you?" he asked, disbelieving.

"We are," she answered coolly. How did he know about them? They hadn't it even made to the tabloids yet! How… her brain skidded. "James told you."

"It doesn't matter who told me, Kara. You're dating Lena Luthor! How could you?"

His eyes were full of betrayal and disappointment, his jaw set indignantly. How could she date a Luthor, the sister of the man who nearly destroyed him?

"Excuse me?" Kara stared at him, disbelieving. "How dare you even question me about my love life?"

"Kara, Lena is a Luthor. S—"

Kara's eyes flashed angrily, bright red overtaking sky blue in an instant.

"Careful, Clark, I don't take kindly to people mistreating Lena," she growled, her hands balling into fists in her lap.

Clark was taken aback. He never expected Kara to look at him like that.

"You don't understand. You're too naïve," he growled angrily, quickly recovering from his shock. "The Luthors are cunning and deceiving. She will prey on you and use you as she pleases, and then toss you away as if you meant nothing at all. You need to end this now!"

Kara's jaw tensed angrily, her eyes still burning red, and she shot up from the couch, needing to put some distance between them before she did something stupid.

"Is this why you called me here? To tell me that I can't see Lena anymore? To tell me that I'm a gullible fool?" she gritted out, her back to him.

"Kara, you need to see reason. Nothing good will ever come out from associating with a Luthor. It's in your best interest to—"

"—My best interest?!" Kara barked, twirling around, her feet no longer touching the ground, her anger becoming too overwhelming to keep in check. "Since when do you care about my best interest?"

"Kara," Clark slowly begun to lift himself up from the couch.

"You abandoned me, Kal-el! You abandoned me when I needed you the most! You left me with strangers, on a strange planet to fend for myself!" Kara super sped up to him and was inches from his face in a nanosecond. "My best interest?! You know nothing about me, Kal-el, nothing! And you never cared to!"

"I didn't abandon you, Kara!" he shouted, angrily. "I did what was best for you!"

"No, you did what was best for _you_! And now you think you can just tell me how to live my life because my life choices don't suit yours? Because the people I love don't meet your ridiculous standards?" her hands were balled at her sides, her body shaking with the effort to keep her anger in check, her eyes shining brighter than before. "You left me, and you're worried about Lena's character? She's always been there for me. Always!"

"Kara—"

"—I looked up to you, I craved your attention, your approval, your GUIDANCE!" Kara jabbed an angry finger on his chest, making him wince. "I waited to hear from you every day, until I eventually had to accept that you wouldn't call, wouldn't visit. You were the only family I had left, and you abandoned me and now you _dare_ to tell me who I can or can't be with?!"

Clark swallowed, shocked at Kara's outburst. This wasn't how he envisioned this conversation going. She was supposed to listen to him, not accuse him of abandoning her. They had talked about this before, she understood why he had to do it. She…

"Kara, please," he begged softly, daring to touch her arm. "Please, listen to me. I—"

"You left me, Kal-el," Kara repeated through gritted teeth. "It was your choice, so you lost all rights to tell me what to do."

Clark felt his arms drop at his sides, defeated.

"You're right, it's not my place to tell you what to do, Kara, but I do care about you and your wellbeing, and I feel like I have to warn you, whether you like it or not."

Kara floated away from him.

"Warn me…" she repeated softly, her anger somehow dissipating at his words, her eyes no longer bright red. "Know what I think, Kal-el? I think you need to get your head out of your self-righteous ass and grow up."

Clark's jaw tensed angrily, but he didn't stop her when she floated out of his house. She needed to cool down first, then they would talk.

He knew her. It wouldn't take her long to come back, to talk – to make amends.

##

Lena coded her way inside her darkened apartment and exhaled, anxious. She had been waiting for Kara's phone call all day, but nothing came, and now it was dark and late, and Kara was not picking up her phone.

She had been checking the news in Metropolis all day, footage of Superman fending off with a weird looking alien streaming on the news, but there was no sign of Supergirl and the churning in her guts kept gnawing at her.

She ditched her stilettos on the foyer, not wanting to disturb Kara if she was around, and padded quietly to the living room, relief washing over her when she noticed the slumped form, huddled in the couch, wrapped in the red cape.

The first thing she noticed was Kara's hitched breathing, meaning she had been crying; second, Kara was wearing her new glasses while still dressed as Supergirl. Her heart clenched: that couldn't be good.

"Love?" she called out softly, kneeling by her side.

Kara sniffed, immediately snugging her hand from its hidden place under her cape to grasp Lena's.

"What happened?" Lena tried again, touching her hair.

But Kara remained silent, pulling her hand closer to her chest.

Lena pursed her lips and decided on another route.

"I called you several times. Did you forget your phone in Metropolis?"

Kara finally opened her eyes, and, despite the darkness of the room, there was enough moonlight streaming in to allow Lena to see the glistening of tears, her eyes probably red and puffy from crying.

"I broke it," she mumbled hoarsely.

She had, in a moment of pure rage. Shortly after leaving Kal-el's house, Kara found herself somewhere in the stratosphere, far away from everything and everyone, where she could vent her anger without hurting anyone.

She tried to call Lena, needing to hear her voice; needing her grounding, but her eyes were blurry because of the tears and her fingers clumsy, and she couldn't get the damn thing to work, and before she knew it, it was crushed in her fist.

That made her angrier and she screamed until her throat was sore, her eyes flashing laser beams aimlessly, until a little voice inside her head finally reminded her, she should calm down, before she solar flared tens of miles above ground.

"Oh!" Lena scooted closer and kissed her forehead, lingering just long enough to hear Kara exhale in relief. "We'll get you another one tomorrow."

 _With a reinforced cover_.

"Are you here long? I know you didn't fight the alien with Superman." Lena kept their foreheads pressed, her free hand gently scratching Kara's head.

Lena felt Kara's fingers tightened around her hand at the mention of Superman. Oh, definitely not a good sign.

"No, I—I flew by your office a couple of times, but you weren't there," Kara mumbled.

Lena cursed herself. She completely forgot to tell her she would spend the day at the lab.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I was at the lab, working on your new suit."

Kara shifted her head a little, so she could look at her.

"Really?" she gave her a tentative smile.

"Yes." Lena kissed her forehead again. "I want you safe and protected."

The smile came out fully this time and Kara allowed herself to shamelessly soak in the security blanket that was Lena Luthor's love.

How dare he question what he knew nothing about?

Lena carefully removed the glasses from her face, knowing perfectly well that Kara was listening to her recorded heartbeat, and set them aside on the coffee table. Climbing up on the couch, Lena wrapped the superhero in her arms, Kara snuggling eagerly in her favorite spot.

"Better?" Lena kissed the top of her head.

"Beyond compare," Kara mumbled contently. At least now, she was where she belonged. She knew she did, as she knew Lena would never do anything to intentionally hurt her.

"Want to talk about it?" Lena asked, keeping her voice low.

Kara shook her head, her eyes already closed.

"Kara—"

"—Please," Kara begged softly.

Lena sighed and pulled the cape closer around them.

"Did you eat at all?"

"Not hungry," Kara mumbled sleepily.

Lena was not happy, but she knew insisting would take her nowhere. She really hoped Superman had nothing to do with the state Kara was in, because, if he did, she would smack that pretentious bastard!

##

It was a shock.

It was a shock and Lena couldn't tell who was more surprised, herself, or the heaving, terrified looking Kryptonian half sitting on the couch, by her side.

Kara had just awoken from another terrifying nightmare, while still sleeping in Lena's arms. That had never happened before.

"Lee…" she mumbled, confused. "I don't… I don't understand."

But Lena did. Whatever Kara was repressing was trying to force its way out by any means necessary.

"Sweetheart," Lena pulled her down, wrapping her tightly against her chest. "It's getting worse. You need to talk to someone about this."

Kara shook her head against her chest.

"Kara—"

"—No!" Kara disentangled herself from Lena's arms, jumping out of the couch. "I don't want to talk to a stranger."

"Then talk to me, talk to Alex."

"I don't want to talk about it, Lena, and that's the end of that."

Kara cocked her head to one side.

"I have to go."

Kara super sped to Lena's side, gave her a peck, and left before Lena could even register what just happened.

"Son of…"

##

The following days did not improve Kara's condition; she kept working late and nonstop, and whatever little free time she had, she would sleepily fly to Lena's, only to wake up in her arms sometime later, terrified. By now, she was simply skipping sleep - it was just so much easier.

But skipping sleep meant, of course, no rest, and Kara was on the verge of a breakdown and it was never more evident than now.

In the middle of a fight with an atrocious alien, her vision was blurry from lack of sleep and her reflexes slow. She had taken quite a few heavy hits and, even though she was not powerless, it was taking its toll on her.

She staggered to her feet, her movements slow and uncoordinated and she didn't even put up a fight when the alien threw himself at her, crashing them both against the hard floor of the warehouse they were in.

It went black after that.

##

DEO's headquarters,

"How is she?" Lena rushed inside med-bay, knowing exactly which room was Supergirl's, her eyes frantic with worry.

Winn called her when she was in the middle of a board meeting, presenting an investor's proposal to develop new satellite technology. She had sent a quick text letting him know she would call later, but the phone rang again right after, and the cold hand of fear squeeze around Lena's heart with a vengeance. Answering the phone, her mind only registered 'she's hurt', before she dropped everything and rushed out the door, trusting her invaluable assistant to take care of things for her.

"Stubborn thing!" Alex grumbled exasperated, closing the door behind her.

"Alex?" Lena called out, confused and worried.

"She's fine!" Alex snapped. "She's not powerless, but she's weakened because she won't rest, she won't sleep and won't let anyone help her! She's burned out, Lena!"

Lena let out a breath that was a mix of relief and worry.

Alex started pacing.

"I've tried talking to her, convince to let J'onn help, but she won't budge." Alex let out a tired sigh, worry lines marring her forehead. "You have to convince her, Lena. If she doesn't talk to J'onn, I'll have to suspend her from the DEO." Alex turned pleading eyes on the helpless executive. "Please, Lena, if you can't convince her, no one can."

Lena nodded and let herself inside.

Kara was lying on the uncomfortable looking table, under the sunlamps, dark bags under her closed eyes, her always sunny face marked with exhaustion lines.

She was dressed in sweatpants and a black sports bra, her suit dropped over a chair, covered in dust and debris. She was thinner again, the nightmares and the exhaustion causing her to lose her appetite, probably one of the main reasons for her weakened state.

"Sweetie?" Lena called out softly, grasping a limp hand and entwining their fingers.

Tired blue eyes cracked open and Kara forced a smile.

"I'm all right," Kara said hoarsely, her tired, reddish eyes from lack of sleep closing against her will.

Lena sighed and pushed the plastic chair closer to the table, so she could sit.

"No, you're not."

"Lena, I—"

"—Kara, you can't go on like this. You need help," Lena started out softly.

Kara shook her head.

"Kara, please, you have to listen to me. You're hurting yourself. You almost got yourself killed today. If you keep this up, you won't be of any use to anyone." Lena covered the hand she was holding, bringing it close to her heart, fear in her eyes. "National City needs you. _I_ need you."

Kara opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"I know it's hard, but please, Kara, please. If you don't do this for yourself, do it for me; do it for Alex," her voice was full of the tears that threaten to fall from her eyes any moment now. "I don't want to lose you. I love you. Please…"

A sob escaped Lena's lips.

"Please, love, I've been worried sick about you. Please, please let J'onn help. Please.

Kara's eyes cracked open again, staring at the executive: she had never seen Lena like this, so… frightened and it was because of her. She was causing this; she was making Lena hurt and that just wasn't acceptable.

"All right… I'll talk to J'onn."

Lena let out a shuddering breath of relief as she climbed to the table to fully hug the Kryptonian.

"Thank you," Lena mumbled, holding her as tight as she could. "Thank you."

Kara hugged her back, burying her face in her shoulder.

"I'm scared…" Kara admitted, brokenly.

"I know, sweetheart, but you're not alone. I'm here for you. We all are. You just have to let us help. Deal?"

Kara nodded against her shoulder, hoping she wasn't making a mistake. She was tired of remembering and exhausted from fighting her own mind, and she just wanted it all to be over.

##

Kara's apartment.

J'onn was sitting in Kara's couch, across from her, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, but Kara looked far from it, nervously plucking at the hem of her cushion, her eyes anxiously darting to the apartment's door, knowing Lena was sitting outside, waiting.

"We can stop anytime you feel like, Kara," he said, keeping his voice low and soothing. "Ok?"

Kara nodded, still looking at the door. J'onn had asked Lena to wait outside. While he needed Kara to be alone with him for what they were about to do, he also needed Lena close by to reassure Kara.

"It takes a very brave person to do what you're about to," he said with a proud smile. He loved her and Alex as is own daughters and he would do anything for them. He was so relieved when Kara finally agreed to do this.

"I don't feel very brave right now," she mumbled, finally looking back at him.

"I know, but you are, and I am very proud of you."

Kara gave him a smile that never reached her eyes.

"Ready?"

Kara shook her head, her lips quivering slightly.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready."

J'onn nodded in understanding.

"Close your eyes," he instructed quietly. "I want you to take a deep breath and hold it to the count of three and then let it go all the way out, until there's no air left in your lungs."

Kara complied and he instructed the same procedure several times until she started to relax, feeling almost sleepy. She felt his warm hand on her temple.

"You're doing great, Kara Zor-El, you're doing just great," he said softly, feeling her relax even further. "You're so relaxed, so relaxed…"

When he felt she was finally in that state somewhere between conscious and unconscious, he allowed his psychic power to expand and wrap around her mind like a warm blanket, giving her the time she needed to acknowledge it, to recognize it and to rule it out as unharmful.

He felt her breathing deepening, her heartbeat slowing to a peaceful rhythm. She wasn't afraid anymore. She felt relaxed and safe.

"Let me in, Kara," he requested, his voice now sounding only in her mind. "Let me See."

The darkness that surrounded him slowly started to fade, giving way to a bright, sunny day, just as an appalling, deafening sound reached his sensitive ears. He was now inside her mind and one with her memories. He would see, smell, hear and feel everything exactly like she had. He was one with the memories that she was allowing him to See.

The effort of pushing the battleship away from the city was tremendous and it was starting to weigh on her. Her senses were overwhelmed with the intense smell of burnt out alien fuel and the shattering noise of the ship itself. It was all too much, and she wanted to get away from it because it was dulling her mind, but she couldn't. She needed to take it as far away from the city as possible.

The sense of relief she felt when she realized she was finally far away into the desert was tremendous. The ship stayed on its deadly descent route, despite her efforts to stabilize the ship for a softer landing, one that could probably save lives – and she wanted to save lives, but she kept being shot at by the alien jet fighters taking pot shots at her. Some of them stung like hell, and if they made it in one piece, she would have Alex examine these alien weapons.

She knew she couldn't stop the crash; couldn't stop the death of its occupants and they weren't helping! They wanted to die, but still she tried to level it. She should've let go from it and remain at a safe distance, she knew it, but she had to give it one last try.

The aliens, however, had other plans in mind and turned a sort of hose on her and showered her with a bright green gas that had her coughing and gasping for air, forcing her to let go of the ship and watch horrified as it plunged into the ground, the thunderous sound of explosions and the acrid stench of burnt metal, fuel and flesh imprinting in her mind forever.

She tried to distance herself from the force of the explosion, or at least she thought of it, but she soon realized she was rooted in midflight, her mind no longer in the desert of National City, witnessing a battleship crash. Somehow, she was back in space, in her pod, watching horrified as her planet exploded, shattering glowing debris all over the darkness of outer space.

A guttural scream escaped her throat as she witnessed her entire world, her parents, her family, and friends disappear in seconds. The force of the explosion expelled the shattered pieces of her home planet into space, forcing her pod far away from the site, and away from the field of debris that were quickly forming the grave of planet Krypton.

She kept screaming in her pod, pounding the protective structure with both fists until she no longer had strength left, and the excruciating pain she now felt all over her body brought back the welcoming darkness of oblivion.

##

Lena had taken a comfortable chair from Kara's apartment and set it outside, in the corridor. Booting her laptop, she sat down and tried to concentrate on working on the engineering of another pet project of hers - Kara related of course. She knew she would only be able to remain focused and occupied if she was working on something to help Kara in the long run, and this particular project was just about concluded, just a few more tweaks here and there. The prototype should be ready for testing in a day or so. Her R&D department was so used to her quirky little projects, they didn't even blink at what she sent them anymore.

Lena chuckled to herself. Sometimes she felt more like Dr. Emmet from Back to the Future, than the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

She was so engrossed in the final tweak of her project, so sure that Kara was going to love what she was working on, that the heart wrenching 'No!' that came from inside the apartment almost made her drop her laptop.

Lena jumped out of her chair and ran to the apartment door, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

She almost rushed inside, but J'onn's warning resounded in her mind: under no circumstance was she to walk inside until he called for her.

She stood, rooted, in front of the door until she could no longer handle hearing the heartbreaking sobs of her girlfriend, so she started pacing back and forth, her fists clenching and unclenching at her sides.

"Miss Luthor."

Lena turned around at the sound of J'onn's grave voice, her eyes wide with worry.

He gave her a nod, and went back inside, leaving the door open.

Lena swallowed but wasted no time in getting inside.

Sitting on the couch, with her legs up and wrapped in her arms, Kara's puffy eyes opened when she felt Lena's presence, her face crumbling at the sight of her.

Lena rushed to her side and wrapped her in a tight embrace, not caring when Kara held her so tight, she was sure it would bruise.

No words were spoken for the longest time, only the sound of Kara's catching breath disrupting the silence in the apartment. Kara cried herself to an exhausted sleep, J'onn making sure she would indeed sleep peacefully this time, by placing a hand on her forehead.

"Today, she will not dream," he said quietly.

Lena nodded gratefully.

"So, what now?"

J'onn quirked his eyebrows.

"It's hum… It's going to take more than one session, miss Luthor," he admitted. "Kara remembers the crash, but she also remembers her planet blowing up – vividly." He shook his head, still horrified at what he saw through Kara's eyes. "It was… horrific."

He was quiet for a while, choosing not to comment on Lena's tears.

"Something happened at the crash that forced the memory of Krypton's explosion to merge with what was happening. Through Kara's eyes, I could see her being sprayed with a gas. She was affected by it and then it was as if she couldn't move, and her mind blanked and she was back in her pod."

"Gas?" Lena repeated. "She was poisoned?"

J'onn shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but she was ready to fly out of there before the full blast caught up with her and she just wouldn't move." J'onn looked at the sleeping Kryptonian in Lena's arms. "Let me take her to her bedroom. She'll be more comfortable there."

Lena nodded and went ahead to prepare the bed.

"I'll have Alex check her blood tests again, just to be sure." J'onn said once Kara was finally settled. "But there's more she's repressing. I don't want to force it all at once. She's not ready for that."

Lena nodded, still frowning.

"Miss Luthor—"

"—Please, after all we've been through together in the last month, I believe a first name basis is warranted."

J'onn nodded, a slight smile on his face.

"And how are we going to explain this to Kara? Alex told me she's suspicious of your activities in Ireland."

"We've been working together since the invasion. L-Corp and the DEO have several joined projects and contracts. We do talk more than she's aware," Lena said, pragmatically.

"True," he agreed. "As I was saying, Lena, how about you? How are you holding up with everything that's happened lately?"

Lena gave him a practiced smile.

"Not my first time dealing with attempts on my life, J'onn. I'm doing fine."

He gave her a look that told her he was far from convinced.

"Well, if you ever need to talk, you know where to find me."

This time, the smile was genuine. It seemed she was slowly being adopted by Kara's extended family.

"I will." Lena looked behind her, at the bedroom. "Will the nightmares continue?"

"Probably."

Lena sighed.

"She now has nightmares when we sleep together. That didn't happen before."

J'onn nodded, his face pensive.

"It will probably get worse before it gets any better, but… Just let her know that even if she has nightmares, that you're there for her. Tell her that… that you'll keep her safe and guard her dreams just before she falls asleep." He hesitated, wondering briefly on how much to tell her. "Associate a gesture with it. When she's having a nightmare, just reassure her with that gesture and she might calm down before she even wakes up."

Lena gave him a grateful smile.

"Thanks, J'onn. I'll do that."

Before J'onn left, he turned around.

"Lena, perhaps it's time she takes some time off, away from National City, from America. Why don't you take her on a vacation? It would do you both wonders."

He winked at her and left before she could reply.

"Vacation?"

Her tired mind became suddenly excited at the prospect of taking Kara away from National City and spending time alone with her, without having to worry about work or Supergirl duties.

Taking her phone and laptop into the bedroom, Lena settled next to the sleeping Kryptonian, making sure Kara was comfortable, and started making arrangements.

"Jesse, I just sent you an email and I need you on it ASAP. This is priority."

"Yes, miss Luthor. Anything else?"

"No, that will be all for now. I won't be returning to the office today."

"Already cancelled all your meetings, miss Luthor."

Lena smiled. Her assistant was awesome.

"Thanks, Jesse."

Disconnecting the call, Lena selected the next number on her list.

"James? Lena Luthor here. I need a favor."

##

Kara woke up feeling rested for the first time since what seemed like forever. It was kind of an odd feeling and she suspected that she was beginning to get used to the poor hours of sleep. Stretching lazily, she looked around, realizing she was alone in her bed, but the other side was tussled and… she closed her eyes and tuned her hearing, a smile splitting her face: Lena was in the apartment.

"Well, look who decided to join us."

Lena's smooth voice sounded from very close by and Kara opened her eyes, grinning happily at the sight of Lena Luthor, in her Star Wars pajamas and dorky glasses, bringing her breakfast in bed.

Lena set the tray on the nightstand and climbed in bed to greet her properly.

"Good morning, love," Lena whispered against her lips, her hands still cupping Kara's warm cheeks.

"Morning," Kara sighed happily.

She was feeling good today, peaceful. She remembered her session with J'onn, but the sense of peace that washed over her soul today overrode any bad memory that might still linger. She suspected J'onn had something to do with the fact the she was feeling this peaceful, but she really didn't care. She was tired of hurting and she would welcome any respite that Rao decided to throw her way.

Lena gave her a big smile and kissed her again.

"You look so much better today."

"I feel so much better too," she replied with a smile.

They kissed once more before Lena gave her the tray full of food. Kara was ravenous. It felt like she hadn't eaten in days. Well, she hadn't, not very well anyway.

Lena chuckled and relaxed next to her, sipping on her cup of coffee while she waited for Kara to finish decimating breakfast.

"There's some more in the pan. Do you want me to get it for you?" Lena asked.

"Nah, I'm good now." Kara grinned sheepishly and patted her belly. "Thanks."

"My pleasure." Lena leaned in and kissed her, taking her time. "I have a surprise for you."

"You do?" Kara mumbled, pulling her down for another kiss. She was kiss starved too. Her fault too, she knew.

Lena moaned at the gentle assault on her lips and allowed herself to get sidetracked again, and Kara's wandering hands weren't helping matters.

"Kara," Lena whispered, slightly out of breath, "if we don't stop now, I don't think I'll be able to stop at all."

Kara sighed and opened her darkened blue eyes.

"Sorry…"

Lena gave her a final kiss and nuzzled her cheek.

"It's all right, love." Lena cuddled against Kara's body, craving her warmth.

"You were saying about a surprise?" Kara kissed her forehead.

"I booked us a villa in a secluded island in Fiji. We leave tomorrow."

Kara frowned.

"Lena, I can't leave National City. Supergirl has duties. I have to—"

"—Supergirl needs rest too, Kara," Lena said, already expecting the argument. "And you've been working nonstop for the last few months. You may be made of steel, but your health certainly isn't."

"Lena, I have a job. I already skipped work yesterday and—"

"You have plenty of vacation time, Kara. I talked to James and he agreed to give you two weeks off."

"Two weeks?!" Kara squeaked. "Lena, I can't be away for that long! And neither can you? How about your company?"

Lena shifted so that she could look at Kara, a serious look on her face.

"Kara, Jesse can handle things for me for a few weeks, it's not the first time, and God knows I'm in dire need of a vacation myself. It's been too long." She exhaled heavily, knowing she was about to play dirty, but she was a Luthor and it was for a worthy cause. "But, if what you're trying to say is that you don't want to spend time with me on vacation, well, then I'll just have to cancel everything."

Kara closed her eyes. She knew what Lena was doing.

"Lena, that's not what I said. I just can't leave everything behind on such short notice, to go away on vacation, and—"

"-J'onn left me with instructions yesterday, Kara. You need time off – now. You need rest." Lena interrupted her, sternly. "He said you're officially off duty for the next two weeks."

Kara groaned, unhappy. It wasn't that the prospect of having Lena all to herself for two weeks wasn't enticing, but what if there was an emergency and she was frolicking with Lena somewhere?

"Fine."

Lena chuckled, relieved.

"I believe, Supergirl, that you're as workaholic as I am."

"That's not funny. I might be needed!"

"You are needed, Kara, but not only by the inhabitants of National City. I need you just as much," Lena said, exasperated, "and risking repeating myself, you're of no use to anyone if you're not healthy and rested. Honey, please, stop giving me such a hard time about this and just humor me."

Kara sighed, defeated. Why was she so reluctant to do this anyway? They both had hectic lives, and, sure enough, had very little quality time for themselves. Didn't she also have a responsibility towards Lena? Towards themselves?

Kara's thoughts derailed when Lena's lips decided to do some convincing of their own.

She briefly wondered if she would ever have the upper hand in an argument with Lena Luthor. Probably not.

##

The following day, Kara was still miffed about having to leave on such short notice. She knew the DEO could handle watching the city and she had made Alex promise to call her if she was really needed, but still, there was this edginess gnawing at her that she couldn't quite figure out.

"Stop smirking," she grumbled when she settled her head on Lena's lap, shortly after takeoff, her face turned towards Lena's belly.

Sleep started creeping up on her as the movie played on Lena's laptop. Petulantly, she had pretty much remained on her side of the private jet's couch, but her traitorous body started leaning towards Lena, craving her warmth and safety as she became drowsy.

"Does your list of superpowers also include seeing with your eyes closed?" Lena asked, amused, gently brushing her hair. Kara's stubbornness about this vacation would be endearing if it wasn't so exasperating. She needed rest. Why was she being so stubborn about this?

"I know you…" Kara cuddled closer and nuzzled her belly. Lena's fingers in her hair weren't helping her stay awake.

"Too well, it seems," Lena replied, fondly, watching as her stubborn Kryptonian fell asleep. "I love you, my sweet, grumpy hero."

Pulling the blanket over them both, Lena returned her attention to the movie, never once stopping her gentle massage on Kara's head.

##

A few days later and Kara's reluctance about their forced vacation was all forgotten. To say that Kara was in love with their private slice of paradise, was an understatement. She was back to her adorable, goofy self that Lena missed so much, and her sleep had improved dramatically. That didn't mean she didn't have the occasional nightmare, she did, but she was far more relaxed, and Lena was always there for her when she woke up, soothing her fears away, just like J'onn had suggested.

It helped immensely that Kara spent a lot of time soaking in the bright sun, even managing to fall asleep for hours at a time, much to Lena's concern, but it seemed that the alien couldn't get sunburned like humans, instead sporting a nice, soft tan.

Lena was admittedly envious of that. Her porcelain skin was too delicate to sunbathe for lengthy periods of time and she spent most of her time hiding under a large umbrella, watching Kara goof around in the ocean. She was such a dork, but she was her dork – hers alone.

"It's raining…" Kara mumbled sleepily against Lena's shoulder, one morning.

Lena cracked one eye open and tried to look out the window, but her vision was still sleep blurry, so she tried to focus on the sound of falling rain.

"Hmpf… Great day to stay in bed then," she mumbled, snuggling closer to Kara. She was so nice and warm, she didn't feel like move. "Go back to sleep."

"'Kay…" Kara mumbled, just as sleepily. She didn't need any more incentive.

They came about a few hours later, but it was still raining, and they decided to follow up on their sleepy plan and just spend the day in bed, watching movies and relaxing.

After a while, Lena gave Kara a sideways glance, judging her mood. She seemed engrossed in the movie, but she also seemed to be somehow restless.

Smirking, Lena leaned closer to her, resting her head on her shoulder and, sure enough, Kara pulled her closer immediately. Lena rested her leg on top of Kara's, her hand finding solace under Kara's shirt. Lena felt those taunt muscles twitch under her touch and kept her gentle exploration of Kara's torso. Hearing her breathing hitch, Lena nibbled on her neck, Kara's hand clenching at the feeling.

"Love," Lena called out softly.

"Yes?" Kara rasped out.

"Do you trust me?"

Kara swallowed.

"Yes."

"Good." Lena climbed off her and Kara whimpered in protest.

Lena opened the nightstand's drawer on her side and removed a gadget that suspiciously looked like a phone, but it had no screen.

"What's that?" Kara moved so that she was supporting her weight on her elbows.

Lena looked back at her and bit her lip.

"It's hum… it's a portable simulator for red sunlight."

"Oh!" Kara blinked at her. She hadn't thought of that.

"Can I turn it on?" Lena asked softly. "It's ok if y—"

"—Yes…"

Lena gave her a shy smile and quickly turned on the gadget, staring at Kara to gauge her reaction. She was pretty sure she had it calibrated correctly, and she had done it herself, not wanting the gadget to fall in the wrong hands, but there was always margin of error and she didn't want to cause her any harm.

Kara winced a little at the odd sensation of suddenly feeling weaker, almost like having kryptonite close by but without the sharp, searing pain that usually came from it.

"Kara?" Lena called out softly. "Is it too much? I can recalibrate and—"

"—No, no, it's, huh… It's all right." Kara gave her a reassuring smile, all the while looking nervous.

Lena smiled at her and gently eased her back down on the mattress.

"We can stop whenever you feel like," she said softly, her hand already playing with the hem of Kara's shirt.

Kara nodded, looking as nervous as she felt.

Lena leaned in and kissed her tenderly.

"Just relax…"

The kisses slowly escalated from tender and light to passionate, and it wasn't long before Kara was finally naked and blushing furiously under Lena's appraising gaze, her heartbeat rapid and uncontrolled. She had never allowed herself to feel this way before, with anyone, and now, now she just couldn't stop herself anymore. Powerless or not, she wanted this, she wanted Lena Luthor to touch her and make her feel like she had never felt before.

Lena gave her a hungry look, committing every single detail of that perfect body to memory.

"I really should build a temple to Rao for sending you to me," Lena said before kissing her hungrily.

##

Lena woke up hours later, a sly, self-satisfied smile on her face. Kara was still sleeping, sprawled naked on her back, hair tousled, and lightly snoring, in a very cute and adorable Kara Danvers way.

Lena chuckled, amused. That had been a revelation, because she had never heard Kara snore before, no matter how exhausted she was. Maybe it was because of the red sunlight.

She disentangled herself from the warm, naked body she was wrapped on and turned the gadget off. Kara mumbled a protest, but remained asleep, turning on her side and effectively ending the snoring.

Lena spooned herself around Kara and kissed her tanned shoulder. God, she loved her. She would forever remember watching Kara's trusting eyes turn neon blue for the first time, as she finally let go and climaxed under her touch, that beautiful body arching tautly, followed by Kara's low, raspy moan of pleasure; how she had gasped for air when the spasms and the neon blue finally started to subside, only to climax again as Lena kept touching her, bringing her over the edge, over and over, and over again.

She realized she was insatiable for Kara. She couldn't get enough of her, of her body, her smell, her taste. It was too much, and she just couldn't stop. This had never happened to her before. There was something about having the most powerful woman on Earth writhe under your touch and beg you not to stop, while holding your head in place, that was just… intoxicating.

She snuggled closer to the blonde and nuzzled her back, craving her warmth, but while her front was cozy and warm, her exposed rear was growing colder, and she spied the blanket at the foot of the bed evilly. She groaned, displeased; she didn't want to leave her comfy spot, but the cold was becoming uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" Kara rasped, her voice heavy with sleep.

Lena cleared her throat, feeling the throbbing at the sound of that raspy voice.

"Just getting blanky."

Lena quickly recovered the blanket and covered them both, knowing Kara didn't need it, but found it comforting.

She found herself laying on her back, with a very cuddly Kryptonian wrapped around her. She didn't think she could move from that spot if she wanted to.

"Are you all right?" Lena asked softly, drawing abstract patterns on the naked back, under the blanket.

"Hum, hum…" Kara hummed with a content smile.

She was feeling more relaxed than ever before and she was all snuggled in Lena's protective arms. She was in love and happy. So very happy.

"I'm glad." Lena kissed her forehead, lingering just a while longer just because she knew Kara loved it. "Sleep now. I love you."

Kara kissed the ivory skin of the warm chest she was resting on.

"I love you too," Kara mumbled.

"More than blanky?" Lena teased gently.

Kara looked up at her and smiled sleepily.

"So much more. You are my blanky, Lena Luthor."

Lena stopped breathing at the admission, the tears welling in her eyes threatening to fall.

Kara slowly lowered her lips to touch Lena's, feeling the shudder of raw emotion course through the body beneath hers at her words, but as her hand moved lower, under the blanket, the shudder she felt was of a different kind. She smiled into the kiss.

"Show me."

Lena closed her eyes, a groan escaping as Kara found a sensitive spot. Maybe she didn't have to show her at all.

##

DEO's headquarters,

"You sent for me?" Alex peeked her head inside J'onn's office.

He nodded and turned his back on her, focusing on the large screen behind him.

"I just got this from our friends in England."

Pictures of a facility with several mutilated bodies, scattered around, kept sliding in the screen.

"There are no survivors." He said gravely, punching a button on his remote, the picture of a wall sliding in.

Alex blanched.

The wall was splashed with blood of the fallen men, but there was also a clear message, written with their blood.

I'M COMING FOR YOU!

"Fuck!"

###

The end.

* * *

 **End Note** :

So, we all know Lena and Alex are up to something, but what?

But I have another question for you: how many of you caught the teasers of the 2nd subplot?

Please let me know you think. Your comments keep me going.

You guys rock!

* * *

 **Sequel:** Leap of Faith


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